THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been ordered to accept and publish the name of Mohammed Sani Abacha as the authentic governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kano State for next year’s election. Justice A. M. Liman of the Federal High Court in Kano gave the order in a judgment delivered on Thursday evening via Zoom.

The judgment was on the suit marked: FHC/KA/CS/204/2022 filed by Abacha, with INEC, Sadiq Aminu Wali, PDP and Shehu Wada Sagagi (Kano State PDP Chairman) as defendants. Justice Liman upheld the arguments by the plaintiff’s legal team, which included J. Y. Musa (SAN) and Reuben Atabo (SAN), that INEC acted unlawfully to have accepted and published Wali’s name in place of Abacha, who scored the highest votes at the PDP’s gubernatorial primary held in Kano on May 25.

In the judgment on Thursday Justice Liman found that Wali did not participate in the PDP governorship primary which was monitored by INEC as required under the Electoral Act. The judge declared among others, that Abacha, who scored the highest number of votes at the Kano PDP primary election and whose name is already with the party as the winner of the said primary election, “is the authentic and lawful winner of the primary election and should be presented with the certificate of return of the third defendant (PDP) as its gubernatorial candidate for the 2023 governorship election.

He issued an order restraining INEC and its agents from recognizing Wali or any other person apart from the plaintiff as the authentic and lawful gubernatorial candidate of the PDP in Kano State for next year’s election. The judge equally issued an order compelling INEC to recognize the plaintiff as the PDP candidate for next year’s governorship election and publish his name as such thereby giving notice to the whole world that the plaintiff is the PDP governorship candidate in Kano State for the 2023 election.

Meanwhile, Wali, the sacked PDP governorship candidate of the PDP, on Friday said he would appeal the court judgement that invalidated his candidacy. Speaking to journalists in reaction to the verdict, Wali said his lawyers discovered several errors in the judgement, which would give him a firm ground to reclaim what he described as “mandate of Kano people” at the Court of Appeal. “We will win at Appeal Court, God willing. We will be victorious and emerge winners of the 2023 elections by God’s grace,” he said.