2023: Court Asked to Restrain NNPP, Kwankwaso, VP from Participating in Presidential Poll

Alex Enumah in Abuja

A Federal High Court in Abuja has been asked to restrain the candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, and his vice, Bishop Isaac Idohosa, from participating in the 2023 presidential election over alleged unlawful nomination.

The court was further asked to restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from including the NNPP in the ballot for the 2023 presidential election on the grounds that the party failed to submit names of its presidential and vice presidential candidates for the said election within the time allowed by law.

The suit filed by the Action Alliance (AA) has INEC, NNPP, Kwankwaso, and Idohosa as 1st to 4th defendants, respectively.

The plaintiff in the suit dated August 15 claimed that NNPP and its presidential and vice presidential candidates could not be on the ballot in the 2023 presidential poll, having not complied with the law.

The plaintiff, in the suit filed on his behalf by his lawyer, Mr Ukpai Ukairo, claimed that NNPP was pressurising INEC to enlist the party and its presidential and vice presidential candidates in the ballot for the 2023 presidential election, despite admitting that it did not send the names of Kwankwaso and Idohosa to INEC for uploading and publication in line with the law.

The plaintiff said “unless restrained” by the court “INEC will accept the nomination of the 3rd and 4th defendants as presidential and vice presidential candidates of the 2nd defendants in the 2023 general election.”

It, therefore, sought a declaration of the court that INEC lacked lawful power to list Kwankwaso and Idohosa as presidential and vice presidential candidates of NNPP in the 2023 election, because NNPP did not submit their names as candidates in the said election “at the date of close of nomination specified by the Electoral Act, 2022”.

Among the issues for determination was whether INEC was entitled under the Electoral Act to list Kwankwaso and Idohosa as candidates of the NNPP in the 2023 poll, “having ascertained that the NNPP did not submit their names at the close of nomination”.

Plaintiff submitted that if the answer to the question raised was no, can INEC be restrained from entering the NNPP in the ballot as a political party?

Meanwhile, Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja, fixed September 6 for hearing of the originating summons.