Ahmad Sorondinki in Kano
Lawyers to the Kano State chapter of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) have petitioned the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to investigate the Head of Department, Election and Party Monitoring in Kano, Mrs. Hauwa Buhari, over alleged issuance of multiple inconsistent monitoring reports on the party’s primary elections.
The demand was contained in a press statement dated 19th October, 2026 and signed by Magaji Mato Ibrahim, SAN, I.M. Abdullahi, Siraj Hamza and two other lawyers, on behalf of the NDC Kano chapter.
The lawyers were responding to a public statement issued on 17th October by Bola Aidi, SAN & Co., solicitors to five persons claiming candidature under the NDC in Kano, who had described the petition against the INEC official as political intimidation.
According to the NDC legal team, the petition dated 16th October was issued on the clear instructions of the NDC Kano State chapter and the claims that the leadership was unaware of it are incorrect and unsupported by any documentary evidence.
On the substance of the petition, the lawyers said it complains of an objective documentary problem – the issuance by the same INEC officer of multiple signed versions of a monitoring report on the NDC Kano primary elections.
“The versions are materially inconsistent in content, some are undated, and they list persons who were not screened, cleared or nominated by the party while excluding authentic candidates whose names appear on Form EC9D signed by the National Chairman and National Secretary,” the statement said.
The lawyers added that the officer is said to have previously admitted lacunas in the report and a corrected version was reportedly forwarded to INEC headquarters without formal communication or implementation.
They also accused the five persons claiming candidature of filing suits at the Federal High Court without notice to the authentic candidates of the party, describing it as a violation of fair hearing principles which require that all interested parties must be joined at the commencement of pre-election matters.
The statement described as curious and unusual, the decision of private solicitors to candidates to mount a public defence of an INEC officer.
“Mrs. Hauwa Buhari is an officer of a constitutional body that has the institutional capacity, legal representation and statutory duty to defend its staff and its records,” the lawyers noted.
They further argued that a monitoring report cannot create a candidacy where the party’s own preconditions for participation were not met, nor can it override the official submission under section 29 of the Electoral Act, 2026.
The legal team called on the INEC Chairman to cause an immediate investigation into the circumstances surrounding the issuance of the reports, withdraw all defective versions and issue one authentic, properly dated report that reflects the true candidates nominated by the party.