By Ikechukwu Nnochiri and Henry Umoru

FOUR days after his swearing in as a Senator in the 9th Senate, the Supreme Court yesterday  sacked Senator David Umaru, All Progressives Congress, APC, Niger East.

In his place, the Supreme Court  declared Mohammed Sani Musa winner of the 2019  Niger East Senatorial election.

Senator Umaru who was Chairman,  Senate Committee  on Judiciary,  Human rights and and Legal Matters in the 8th Senate, was one of the 107 Senators  inaugurated  Tuesday by the Clerk of the National Assembly, Mohammed Sani Omolori.

The apex court, in a unanimous judgement by a five-man panel of Justices led by Justice Ibrahim Muhammad, held that Umaru was not validly nominated by the APC.

The court said it was satisfied that the appellant, Mohammed Sani, was the bonafide winner of the primary election APC conducted for the Senatorial District.

It went ahead to set-aside the judgement of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which had on April 8, affirmed Umaru who was the former Chairman of Senate Committee on Justice, Human Rights and Legal Matters, as winner of the Senatorial seat.

The apex court restored the judgement of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which declared Sani the validly nominated candidate of the APC for the election.

In allowing the appeal marked: SC/405/2019, the court, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to forthwith, issue a Certificate of Return to the appellant as the Senator representing Niger East.