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The former Speaker
of the House of Representatives, Aminu Bello Masari, should be
prevented from being fielded as the governorship candidate of the
Congress for Progressive Change [CPC] in Kastina State, Yakubu Garba
Lado, a senator, has said.

Seeking an order
from the Federal High Court in Abuja to restrain the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) from accepting Mr. Masari, the
senator claimed that he won the primary election and should have been
presented instead of Mr. Masari.

Mr. Lado wants the
court to mandate the submission of no other candidate except him to
INEC as the party’s governorship candidate for the state for the April
2011 election.

Specifically, he
wants the court to mandate the electoral body to accept only him as the
candidate of the party at the 2011 general elections for which they won
their party primaries.

Mr. Lado also asked
the court for an accelerated hearing of the suit by abridging the time
within which the defendants may enter appearance and file their counter
affidavit, and written address to seven days, upon being served with
the originating processes.

However, the
presiding judge, Abdu-Kafarati, in his ruling on the exparte motion,
moved by counsel to the applicants, Rickey Tarfa [SAN], ordered that
the defendants be put on notice and adjourned the matter to February
11, 2011 for hearing.

The court granted
the applicants leave to serve all the originating and other subsequent
processes in the suit to all the defendants. He further granted an
order for substituted service on the defendants by serving same
processes through the office of the director of legal services of the
INEC.

Some of the
aggrieved members of the CPC listed as plaintiffs in the suit with no.
FHC/ABJ/CS/126/2011 included Abdu Umar Yandoma; Ahmed Sani Stores;
Aminu Ashiru; Murtari Isah; Muntari Dandutse; Gambo Musa; and Aminu
Turkur.

Others are Tijani Awalu; Umar Abdu Dankama; Sani Lawal; Shehu Ibrahim; Basiru Musa; Sanusi Ali, amongst others.