Hamza Al-Mustapha will no longer be the Action Alliance (AA) presidential candidate in the general election of 2023, according to a ruling from a federal high court in Abuja.
In the ruling issued on Friday, Zainab Abubakar, the presiding judge, also directed INEC to disregard all of the candidates that party factional leader Kenneth Udeze had presented to it.
The opposing wing of the party, led by Adekunle Omoaje, filed the lawsuit on September 30 with the filing number FHC/ABJ/CS/1759/2022.
Omoaje went to court to demand compensation for the non-recognition of the candidates he had submitted to INEC on the party’s behalf.
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On November 1 when the case was set for hearing, the electoral commission was not present in court and did not submit a counter affidavit.
The court instructed INEC to “upload and display the names of the applicant’s candidates for the 2023 general elections that had been forwarded to the respondent as its candidate for the said general election,” according to the court’s ruling.
The national chairmanship position has been a source of contention within the party.
Al-Mustapha defeated Samson Odupitan, his only rival, in the party’s primary election with a total of 506 votes.
At the AA presidential primary conducted on June 9 in Abuja, the retired army major and former Sani Abacha adviser was selected as the party’s nominee.
