A Federal High Court has cleared Abubakar Malami, SAN, to contest the Kebbi governorship race after dismissing a lawsuit challenging his emergence as the African Democratic Congress candidate.
Effectively, the decision preserves Malami’s position as the ADC governorship flagbearer, bringing an end to a major legal dispute over the party’s candidate selection process and allowing him to concentrate on the forthcoming election.
Moreover, the court ruled that the plaintiff, Abdulrazak Iko, failed to establish that he participated in the party’s governorship primary, a requirement considered necessary to challenge the outcome of the exercise.
The ruling was delivered on Tuesday by Justice M. G. Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja, bringing the legal challenge against Malami’s emergence as the ADC governorship candidate in Kebbi State to a close.
Justice M. G. Umar held that the claimant lacked the legal standing to institute the suit, stressing that the case was unsupported by merit after the threshold issue of locus standi was determined against the plaintiff.
“The plaintiff failed to prove participation in the party primary and therefore lacks the legal standing to challenge the process,” the court held.
Following that finding, the court dismissed the suit in its entirety, leaving Malami’s candidacy untouched and removing a significant legal obstacle from his governorship ambition.
The judgment also reaffirmed the established legal principle that only individuals with the requisite legal standing can validly contest the conduct or outcome of a political party’s primary election.
Meanwhile, political observers believe the judgment provides clarity over the party’s ticket and enables the ADC to shift its attention fully to preparations for the Kebbi governorship contest.