The Supreme Court on Friday removed Senator Ibrahim Shekarau as the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) candidate and recognized Senator Rufa’i Hanga as the party’s legitimate nominee for the 2023 general election. Earlier reports had declared Shekarau the winner of the 2023 Kano Central Senatorial District election under the NNPP banner.
Shekarau, a sitting senator, had been nominated by the NNPP to contest the senatorial seat. However, before the election he announced his defection to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and abandoned his senatorial ambition. Despite his departure, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) continued to recognize him as the NNPP candidate, even though the party had replaced him with Hanga.
According to INEC, Shekarau received 456,787 votes, defeating the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Alhaji Abdulkarim Zaura, who garnered 168,677 votes. The returning officer for the senatorial district, Professor Tijjani Darma, declared Shekarau the winner, marking his second term in the Senate.
In a unanimous judgment, a five‑member panel led by Justice Inyang Okoro affirmed Hanga’s nomination as the authentic NNPP candidate. The court faulted INEC for refusing to substitute Shekarau with Hanga after Shekarau left the party for the PDP prior to the election. Justice Emmanuel Agim, reading the lead judgment written by Justice Uwani Abba‑Aji, dismissed INEC’s appeal. The decision upheld earlier concurrent rulings by the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal in Abuja, both of which had affirmed Hanga as the rightful NNPP candidate.
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