The Supreme Court on Friday sacked Senator Ibrahim Shekarau and affirmed Rufai Hanga as the Senator-Elect for Kano Central Senatorial District under the platform of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP).
The apex court in a unanimous judgement also faulted the refusal by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to replace Senator Shekarau with Hanga after the former Kano State governor left the party for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before the 2023 election.
A five-member panel of the apex court, led by Justice Inyang Okoro, in a unanimous judgment also upheld the two earlier concurrent judgments by the Federal High Court and Court of Appeal, both in Abuja, which affirmed Hanga as the genuine candidate of the NNPP.
It would be recalled that Shekarau was declared the winner of the 2023 Kano Central Senatorial District election under NNPP.
Shekarau, a sitting senator was in the NNPP and was nominated to vie for the senatorial position under its platform.
However, before the elections, he announced his defection from the NNPP and abandoned his senatorial ambition to join the Peoples Democratic Party.
Shortly after the defection, NNPP replaced Shekarau with Hanga, but INEC insisted that it still recognised the former governor as the legitimate NNPP candidate.
