The Kaduna State Governorship Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2023 general elections, Uba Sani, has been dragged to court over alleged discrepancies and fraud that characterised the conduct of the primary election of the party in the state.
One of the aggrieved aspirants, Sani Mahmood Sha’aban, filed a suit at the Kaduna State High Court seeking an order granting leave to effect the service of the originating summons and all other processes in the matter on Uba Sani (the 2nd defendant and respondent).
In a court document sighted by SaharaReporters, the APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission were joined as the 1st defendant and 3rd defendant/respondent respectively.
Sha’aban is challenging the method used in the primary election that produced Uba Sani as the party’s flag bearer in the state.
He said the party allegedly manipulated the primary election by substituting the lists of the delegates from the wards and local governments with their own cronies and associates to favour a particular aspirant.
SaharaReporters gathered that delegates from the wards and local governments were screened by the committee but they were shocked when their names were replaced by the leaders of the party with those believed to be loyal to them.
It would be recalled that Sha’aban had rejected the outcome of the primary election, describing the process as a sham alleging that the poll was fraught irregularities.
He had alleged that the election was a “charade” as most of the delegates from the 23 local governments were locked out of the voting venue and denied the right to vote for candidates of their choice.
He added that there were no delegate congresses anywhere in the state, maintaining that the process was manipulated.
Uba Sani had been declared winner of the primary election, polling 1,149 votes. Sha’aban and another aspirant, Bashir Abubakar, had scored 10 and 37 votes respectively.