Court sacks Al-Mustapha as AA presidential candidate

A federal high court in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to remove the name of Hamza Al-Mustapha as the Action Alliance presidential candidate in the 2023 general election.

Al-Mustapha won the primary election of the party with a total of 506 votes, defeating Samson Odupitan, his only opponent.

The retired army major and former aide to late Sani Abacha, was declared the party’s candidate at the AA presidential primary held on June 9 in Abuja.

In the judgment delivered on Friday, Zainab Abubakar, presiding judge, also ordered INEC to discountenance all the candidates submitted to it by Kenneth Udeze, factional leader of the party.

The suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1759/2022 was filed on September 30 by the party’s other faction led by Adekunle Omoaje.

Omoaje approached the court to seek redress on the non-recognition of the candidates submitted to INEC by him on behalf of the party.

In the document seen by TheCable, INEC was the only respondent.

The electoral commission was not represented in court on November 1 when the matter came up for hearing, neither did they file a counter affidavit.

In the judgment, the court ordered INEC “to upload and display the names of the applicant’s candidates for the 2023 general elections which had been forwarded to the respondent as its candidate for the said general election.”

The party has been in dispute over the national chairmanship position.