The National Chairman of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Prof. Ahmed Rufai Alkali, yesterday alleged that the party’s deputy governorship candidate in Yobe State sold his ticket and abandoned the race for the March 11 election.

Addressing reporters yesterday in Abuja on why the party took the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to court and obtained judgment to substitute some of its candidates, Alkali said the candidate, who he did not name, reportedly collected N500 million to abandon the ticket.

Alkali said: “Our party has reasons to take INEC to court over disagreements on the issue of uploading and submission of names of some of our candidates.”

 The national chairman hailed the Judiciary for being the last bastion of hope for the people and a pillar of democracy and democratic processes, particularly in its duties towards this year’s general election.

 He said the NNPP had benefitted immensely from the sound judgments of the Federal High Court and the Appeal Court, which were delivered with dispatch, despite the court’s overcrowded schedules.

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Alkali said: “We also wish to use this medium to most especially appreciate the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) under the able leadership of amiable patriotic Prof. Mahmood Yakubu for its high sense of responsibility to the promotion of rule of law and commitment to conducting the most credible election in 2023.

 “In the same spirit, we most humbly urge the commission to urgently comply with the court orders expeditiously delivered by the courts so as to further build up confidence of the political parties and general public in the commission’s unflinching and unwavering commitment to conducting free, fair and credible elections in 2023.

 “We appreciate the enormity of the assignments before INEC. We, however, believe the commission should continue to implement court rulings, the better for our country. We want to use this opportunity to assure Prof. Mahmood Yakubu of our confidence in him and his commission to deliver a sound election that will stand the test of time. We, therefore, pledge our unflinching support for him and INEC.”

 The NNPP national chairman also said the lower court directed INEC to substitute about 80 National Assembly candidates of the party’s canmidates.

 He added: “The position of the court was that even though INEC has its own guidelines, the Electoral Act provision supersedes that, in terms of the timeline for final submission of candidates.

 “We also had a separate case of two senatorial candidates who purchased the forms and were screened and nominated after the primaries.

 “One was Senator Ibrahim Shekarau from Kano and the other one from Taraba State. Also, one of our deputy governorship candidates – from Yobe State – who suddenly sold the position. I understand he collected N500 million.

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 “There is another House of Assembly candidate from Potiskum, Yobe State. You know the place of a deputy governor. No governor can run without a deputy. So, when somebody is withdrawn, he has to be substituted.

 “In the case of the senators, Shekarau wrote to INEC, telling them that he had withdrawn, while the one from Taraba State went to court to swear to an affidavit that he had left the party and the ticket.

 “We approached INEC about the situation and they said as far as they were concerned, the people were not dead and that they were still on the list of candidates for our party. So, we decided to approach the court to interpret the Electoral Act and the court gave a judgment in our favour and we forwarded the correspondence to INEC. But INEC said no; instead, they went to appeal the matter and we also won.

 “We have already written a letter to INEC and we are waiting for them to respond so that we can validly nominate candidates from the party. We also have another case, which came up about two or three days ago, concerning about 300 House of Assembly candidates. On such issue, you have to substitute them.”

The Nation