The Federal High Court in Kano on Thursday named Mohammed Abacha as the genuine opposition gubernatorial candidate. The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Kano State.
Initially, the electoral commission, INEC, announced Sadiq Wali, the son of Nigeria’s former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Aminu Wali, as the PDP governorship candidate.
Mr. Abacha is the son of the late military dictator Sani Abacha.
Young Abacha was selected as the governorship candidate by a faction of the PDP in the state while Mr. Wali emerged as the candidate of another faction of the party.
However, the national leadership of the party recognizes the faction that elected Mr. Wali.
INEC, which initially supervised and certified the primaries for the pro-Abacha party, did a U-turn and recognized Mr. Wali as the genuine candidate of the party.
The verdict
On Thursday, the trial judge, Abdullahi Liman, granted all the prayers of Mr. Abacha in a virtual judgment.
The court paraded Mr. Wali as the Kano PDP governorship candidate.
The judge also directed INEC to replace Mr. Wali’s name with that of Mr. Abacha, with immediate effect, as he was the top vote-getter in the May 25 PDP primary election held in Kano.
The court ruled that INEC, which is responsible for monitoring any election, supervised and controlled the PDP primary conducted by the Abacha-led party.
The judge said the only election recognized by law is the one controlled and supervised by INEC.
The judge said the failure of the PDP at the national level to notify INEC rendered the parallel election being held by Mr. Wali’s party invalid and illegal under the Electoral Act 2022 (as amended).
The PDP headquarters, however, is expected to appeal the judgment.
Mohammed Abacha
Mohammed Abacha has been cited in several Nigerian and foreign courts as one of the means his father used to steal millions of naira of public funds while in office.
PREMIUM TIMES reported how US court documents cited his father as one of the people who helped loot Nigerian funds. However, they have not been convicted of any crime.
Mohammed was detained for several months by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration for alleged looting, but the family later agreed to a settlement with the Nigerian government.
The Nigerian government has since recovered billions of naira from Abacha since the latter’s death in 1998.
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