AA faction says Al-Mustapha not presidential candidate of party, accuses INEC

The Action Alliance (AA) faction said the refusal of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to upload the names of the candidates on the portal could derail the upcoming general elections.

It also said Hamza Al-Mustapha was not the original presidential candidate of the party.

The National Chairman of the group, Adekunle Omo-Aje, stated this at a press conference in Abuja on Saturday.

He spoke against the background of the leadership tussle that has shaken the party, which has led to the emergence of two presidential candidates.

It was recalled that at the national congress held by Omo-Aje leaders last year and monitored by INECSolomon-David Okanigbuan emerged as the party’s presidential candidate.

But Mr. Al-Mustapha, a former security aide to the late Nigerian dictator, Sani Abacha, won the presidential primary election conducted by the faction led by Kenneth Udeze, on June 9, 2022, in Abuja.

INEC has recognized all the candidates presented by the Udeze-led faction of the party, despite the court ruling declaring them no longer members of the party. The court also ordered INEC to receive and publish the names of the candidates submitted by the Omo-Aje leader of the AA.

Mr. Udeze is still listed on the INEC website as the AA national chairman.

‘Yakubu plans to contest 2023 elections’

Mr. Omo-Aje accused the Chairman of INEC, Mahmood Yakubu, of dereliction of duty by refusing to comply with a court order asking the commission to come up with the names of all candidates.

“We have completed all INEC election guidelines and requirements according to the Nigerian Constitution with the commission, but he (Mr. Yakubu) really wants to exclude the Action Alliance from the coming 2023 General Election,” he said.

He also said that “…Yakubu is secretly organizing a secret plan against the 2023 elections, and the Action Alliance will not raise its hands and watch our democracy remain and be wounded.”

He also spoke instead of Mr. Udeze to challenge the suspension and expulsion from the party, he instituted several court cases urging the court to declare him the national chairman of the party but lost everything.

Mr. Omo-Aje said the party would hold a peaceful protest to the National Assembly to press for their demands.

Lawsuit

PREMIUM TIMES reports that the AA faction has presented Mr. Al-Mustapha to INEC as the party’s presidential candidate for the February election.

Zainab Abubakar, a judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered INEC to remove the name of Al-Mustapha as the AA presidential flag bearer for the February 25 poll.

The court ordered INEC to replace Al-Mustapha as the AA presidential candidate

At Ms Abubakar’s trial at the Federal High Court, the judge nullified the entire list of nominees, including Mr Al-Mustapha, submitted to the election referee by the factional leader of the party, Mr Udeze.

The judge upheld the plaintiff, Mr. Omo-Aje, who brought the suit, as the original national chairman of the AA, and the list of nominees was a valid set of party candidates for various positions for the upcoming 2023 general election.

In addition, the Court of Appeal in Abuja last Thursday issued an appeal seeking to reinstate Mr. Al-Mustpha as AA presidential candidate.

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Leading the three-member panel of the Court of Appeal, Monica Dongban-Mensem, who was the President of the court of appeal in the ruling, said that the appeal was not competent.

Mr. Udeze, the sacked Chairman of the AA Party, sought to cancel the candidature of Mr. Al-Mustapha and others.