Court sacks prominent presidential candidate ahead of 2023 elections, gives special order to INEC

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has sacked all the Action Alliance (AA) candidates, including the presidential candidate, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (rtd), produced by the Kenneth Udeze-led faction of the party.

The court ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remove the names of the candidates which had been submitted to it, The Nation reported.

Legit.ng gathers that the court order was made available to newsmen in Kaduna on Saturday, November 5.

It was gathered that the court ruled that INEC should display the list of candidates submitted to it by the party’s leadership under the chairmanship of Adekunle Rufai Omoaje.

The court presided over by Justice Z.B Abubakar also held that the electoral body erred by failing to recognise the list of candidates submitted to it by the Omoaje-led faction.

Omoaje had, on behalf of himself and the Action Alliance, approached the court to seek redress for the non-recognition of the candidates submitted to INEC by him on behalf of the party.

Al-Mustapha's presidential bid affected by court order By the court's judgement, the candidates already announced by INEC, including the presidential candidate, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (rtd), are expected to be substituted by the list of candidates submitted by Omoaje, Thisday also reported.

Al-Mustapha was announced as the presidential candidate of the AA by INEC, and his name had already been published on the electoral body's website.

However, with the latest court judgment, Al-Mustapha may be replaced by another person endorsed by the Omoaje leadership.