INEC, NNPP Sued for Substituting Bauchi House of Rep Candidate

Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi

The winner of the Bauchi State House of Representatives primary election on the platform of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Alhaji Kabiru Mohammed, has dragged the state chapter of NNPP and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before the Federal High Court in Bauchi for allegedly refusing to publish his name for the 2023 general election after winning the party’s primary.

The case was filed at the Federal High Court in Bauchi and was first mentioned for hearing on September 26, 2022.

 The contention is over who is the rightful candidate of the NNPP to contest in the 2023 general election to represent Katagum federal constituency in the House of Representatives.

Mohammed is seeking an injunction prohibiting the third defendant, Ibrahim Mohammed Baba from parading himself as the candidate of the NNPP for Katagum federal constituency for the House of Representatives in the forthcoming general election scheduled for March 2023.

THISDAY learnt that Mohammed’s name was substituted when the electoral body published the names of candidates submitted by the political parties. Mohammed contested the primary election of the party but lost to Ibrahim Mohammed Baba “who did not participate in the party’s primary due to his participation in the Bauchi North senatorial contest on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).”

Mohammed, who contested the primary election and won, went to court to challenge the attempt by the party to steal his mandate after INEC recognised  Ibrahim Mohammed Baba’s as the candidate for the Katagum Federal House of Representatives in the state.

Speaking with Mohammed, shortly after the case was mentioned for hearing at the Federal High Court in Bauchi, he said Baba’s decamped to NNPP when he lost the senatorial primary election on the platform of APC.

According to him, “My party submitted his name to INEC as the candidate for Katagum Federal House of Representatives, but I will not leave any stone unturned in my quest to reclaim my mandate. I resolved not to withdraw from the race for any reason because the mandate was duly given to me by the members of my party

“I am the elected candidate for the party, and I will not withdraw for anybody because by right, the mandate was given to me by members of our great party-the delegates. So to conspire and remove my name, I consider that as undemocratic, illegal and of course inhuman. This is the reason why I challenged their action in court.”

When the case was earlier mentioned in the court last Monday, the counsel to the petitioner, Hassan ElYakub (SAN), explained that there was issue of representation as two counsel appeared for the second defendant.

However, a different motion was filed by the second defendant, saying they  want to withdraw one and leave one, but the counsel to the defendants, Habila Barau, said they were briefed by the second defendant to take over the case from the counsel that earlier filed the case, which the counsel to the plaintiff, ElYaqub, disagreed with their submission after a long argument.

In his submission, the presiding Judge, Justice BO Quadri, adjourned the suit to September 28, 2022, to enable them sort out the issue of representation.