A’Court affirms tribunal judgment, sacks Kano Governor
APC hails judgment ,says its victory for Kano people
The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on Friday nullified the election of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State.
The appellate court, in a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of justices led by Justice Moore A. Adumein upheld the appeal of Nasir Yusuf Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In its judgment on Friday, the Appeal Court agreed with the judgment of the tribunal, ruling that the fielding of Abba Yusuf was in breach of the Electoral Law as he was not qualified to contest that election
The verdict comes nearly two months after the Kano Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, on September 20, sacked Yusuf, declaring Gawuna, as the winner of the March 18 election.
Yusuf, who contested on the platform of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), was declared the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after the poll in March.
The tribunal deducted 165,663 votes from Yusuf’s total as invalid votes, stating that the affected ballot papers were not stamped or signed and therefore declared invalid.
The ruling came about six months after the APC candidate conceded defeat to Yusuf in the wake of INEC’s presentation of the certificate of return to the NNPP candidate.
In a two-minute audio statement on March 29, Gawuna stated that “as a good Muslim”, he was compelled to accept the outcome of the election, whether in his favour or not.
He added that although his campaign team had requested a review of the election results by INEC, upon review, the commission had found Yusuf to be the winner of the election.
Meanwhile , the Chairman of APC, Kano Chapter, Alhaji Abdullahi Abbas, has said that the victory recorded by his party at the appeal court judgment is a victory for all the people of Kano State.
Abbas, who stated this while addressing newsmen in Kano on Friday, said the victory is a clear indication that their party won the election at the initial stage.
“I am happy to inform all those who fell victim to demolition by the NNPP administration at Eid Ground, Salanta, and other places that this is their victory and their saviour has arrived.
“We assure the people of Kano that their responsible government has returned, so they have nothing to fear,” Abbas said.
The APC Chairman appealed to the teeming supporters of the party to continue to conduct themselves peacefully and avoid anything that could breach the existing peace in the state.
The APC chairman noted that they have the assurance of winning the case even at the Supreme Court with the evidence on hand.
