The apex court also kicked out a former Kano state governor, Ibrahim Shekarau, as the candidate of the NNPP in the February 25 National Assembly Election.
Delivering the judgment in an appeal brought before it by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the apex court upheld the judgments of a Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal, both in Abuja, which had earlier supported the candidature of Hanga and the candidate of the party.
The Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal had, in their previous judgment, upheld Rufai Hanga as the Senatorial Candidate of the NNPP for Kano Central, following the withdrawal of Ibrahim Shekarau as a member of the party and Senatorial Candidate due to irreconcilable differences he had with the party.
However, rather than obeying the Federal High Court order, the INEC took it upon itself and appealed the judgment, at the end of which it lost at the appellate court. Not satisfied with the decisions of the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal, the electoral umpire proceeded to the Supreme Court to challenge the concurrent findings of the two courts, which upheld Hanga as the lawful candidate of the NNPP Kano Central Senatorial District.
The Supreme Court has now put the matter to rest, affirming Hanga as the Senator-Elect for Kano Central Senatorial District and dismissing Shekarau as the NNPP's candidate. This judgment is expected to end the long-drawn-out legal tussle over the candidature of the NNPP in Kano Central and pave the way for Hanga to take his rightful place in the Senate.