Retired Army Major, Hamza Al-Mustapha, who served as the Chief Security Officer (CSO) to Nigeria's late military dictator, General Sani Abacha has been sacked by a Federal High Court in Abuja, as the presidential candidate of the Action Alliance (AA) Party in the February 2023 elections.
The Court presided over by Justice Z. B. Abubakar ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to recognize all the candidates presented by the Kenneth Udeze-led faction of the party, instead, the names of candidates submitted by the faction loyal to the Party's National Chairman, Adekunle Rufai Omoaje should be recognized for the 2023 elections.
Justice Abubakar citing section 29(1) of the Electoral Act, 2022, ordered that INEC should immediately publish the names and particulars of all candidates submitted by Omoaje on behalf of the Action Alliance (AA).
“By the provision of section 29(1) of the Electoral Act, 2022, the INEC should publish by displaying at the relevant office or offices of INEC and on its website,” the Judge ruled.
africafirstnews.com recalls that the Court order followed a suit instituted by the Adekunle Rufai Omoaje-led National Executive of the Action Alliance (AA) which challenged the decision of INEC not to recognize the candidates submitted by him on behalf of the Party for the 2023 polls.
Omoaje had contended in the suit that Kenneth Udeze whose list of candidates, including Major Al-Mustapha (Rtd) and others were accepted and published by INEC, had been expelled from the AA since 14th February, 2020 during the Party's National Convention in Osogbo, hence should stop parading himself as the National Chairman.
