Court orders INEC to recognise Bashir as LP guber candidate in Kano

A federal high court in Kano has affirmed the nomination of Bashir Ishaq Bashir as the governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the state.

In a judgment delivered on Monday, Muhammed Yunusa, the presiding judge, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise and list Bashir and his running mate, Auwalu Abdullahi, as the party’s candidates in the state.

Bashir, who is the first plaintiff in the lawsuit against INEC, pleaded with the court to order the electoral commission to accept and deem the hard copy of his form EC9(affidavit in support of particulars of persons seeking election to elective offices) as legal and sufficient to satisfy the requirements of Section 29 (2) of the Electoral Act of 2022.

Bashir said the commission could not disqualify him since he had properly submitted his name and had won the LP primary election held in October 2022 following the voluntary withdrawal of the placeholder, Muhammad Abdullahi.

Therefore, he prayed the court to direct INEC to publish his name forthwith as the valid candidate of the Labour Party ahead of the March 11 governorship election.

In the judgment, Yunusa held that Bashir and his running mate complied with the requirements of the Electoral Act.

“The plaintiff, having fulfilled all the legal requirements prescribed under the constitution and the Electoral Act 2022 to stand for a legislative election, is entitled to all the rights and benefits of their candidature as a validly nominated candidate of the LP for the 2023 governorship elections,” the judge said.

“This is notwithstanding the negligent acts of a third party in non-compliance to the Electoral Act, 2022 which adversely affects the plaintiff’s candidacy.”

The judge also declared that any gubernatorial election conducted by INEC in Kano state without Bashir’s name being published and included as one of the contestants would be illegal, unconstitutional, null and void.