Don’t Waste Your Money In Court – Shehu Sani Tells Candidates Omitted From INEC List
Former Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani, has advised governorship candidates excluded from the final list released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to abandon plans to challenge the decision in court.
Sani said the affected politicians should accept the outcome and begin preparing for future elections rather than spend money and energy pursuing what he described as a lost battle.
He gave the advice in a post on his social media platforms while reacting to the omission of several candidates from INEC’s final list ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Among those affected are former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Ogun State, Ladi Adebutu, and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate in Kano State, Aminu Abdussalam Gwarzo.
The omissions followed a Supreme Court judgement that upheld provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 relating to political party membership registers and INEC’s timetable for the 2027 elections.
“The Supreme Court ruling that enabled INEC to exclude some names of candidates is very clear,” Sani said.
“Affected candidates should not waste their money, time and energy fighting a lost battle.”
The former senator also appealed to lawyers representing the affected politicians to discourage them from filing fresh lawsuits over the exclusions.
He urged senior legal practitioners to allow the candidates to redirect their attention towards future political contests rather than incur further legal expenses.
“I also wish to appeal to those Barristers and SANs to ‘pity’ those candidates and allow them to rest, and not mislead them into spending more money ‘filing fresh suits’,” he said.
“Four years will come and go; let them strategise for the future.”
INEC released its final list after its chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, said the commission had received complaints from political parties and aggrieved aspirants over the implications of the Supreme Court judgement on candidates’ eligibility.
Amupitan had disclosed at a press conference in Abuja that the commission received a certified true copy of the judgement on Tuesday and was reviewing it to determine its next steps.
In its September 24, 2026 judgement, the Supreme Court affirmed the constitutionality of Sections 77(5), 77(6) and 77(7) of the Electoral Act 2026. It also upheld INEC’s revised timetable and schedule of activities for the 2027 elections.
Following the ruling, INEC stated that political parties would not be allowed to participate in the elections if they fielded candidates whose names were absent from the membership registers submitted to the commission within the stipulated period.
Speaking on Wednesday, Mohammed Haruna, INEC National Commissioner in charge of Information and Voter Education, said affected parties would also be barred from substituting such candidates.
He added that political parties that violated the requirements would not be allowed to benefit from their actions.
The former minister had initially sought the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship ticket but defected to the PDP after the ruling party in the state settled for Jamilu Isyaku Gwamna as its consensus candidate.
Adebutu, the PDP governorship candidate in Ogun State, was also excluded alongside his running mate.
Similarly, Gwarzo, the NDC governorship candidate in Kano State, was absent from INEC’s final list.
