Supreme court sacks Niger-East senator, David Umaru

The Supreme Court has set aside a judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which declared Senator David Umaru as the valid candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election for the Niger-East Senatorial District of Niger State.

The Apex court, in a unanimous judgment delivered by a five-man panel, led by Justice Ibrahim Muhammad, held that Mr Umaru was not validly nominated by the party.

The court affirmed the February 7, 2019 judgment by Justice Folashade Giwa-Ogunbanjo of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which declared appellant, Mohammed Musa, winner of the primary election, having scored the highest vote at the election.

Accordingly, Justice Muhammad ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to, without delay, issue a certificate of return to Mr Sani as the Senator representing Niger East.