The Court of Appeal in Kano has nullified the nomination of Danburam Nuhu by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as the senatorial candidate of the party for Kano Central.
Consequently, the court upheld the primaries conducted by the Shehu Sagagi-led executives of the party, which produced Laila Buhari as the candidate.
On September 26, a Federal High Court in Kano dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction on the basis that the case was filed in Kano instead of Abuja, contrary to the policy of the National Judicial Council, NJC, on pre-election matters.
But in a judgement delivered by Justice Ita Mbaba on Wednesday, the appellate court set aside the decision of the trial court, saying it erred in dismissing the case on that premise.
In hearing the substantive case on its merit as it was filed by way of originating summons, the court held that in a pre-election matter, the Federal High Court Rules and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999) as amended shall prevail over the NJC policy, which the lower court relied upon.
The court therefore ordered INEC to remove Mr Damburam’s name and replace with Mrs Buhari’s name forthwith.
