Appeal Court sacks Kano Governor Abba Yusuf, declared Nasir Gawuna, as the lawfully elected candidate in the 18 March election.

Appeal Court sacks Kano Governor Abba Yusuf, declared Nasir Gawuna, as the lawfully elected candidate in the 18 March election.

Appeal Court has sacked Kano state Governor Abba Yusuf

 

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has sacked Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State.

 

The panel upheld the verdict of the tribunal led by Justice Oluyemi Akintan Osadebay which sacked Yusuf on September 20, 2023.

Recall the lower tribunal had declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nasir Gawuna, as the lawfully elected candidate in the 18 March election.

 

The three-member panel of judges in the tribunal led by Oluyemi Asadebay, had ruled in favour of the APC candidate.

The Nation reports after the 18 March election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared that the NNPP polled 1,019,602 votes against the APC’s 890,705 to emerge victorious.

Read Also: 2023 polls: INEC had many positive outcomes — Expert

But the tribunal invalidated over 165,663 ballots thumb printed in favour of NNPP. The court ruled that the votes were deducted because the ballot papers with which they were cast were not stamped or signed. This rendered the votes invalid, according to the tribunal.

The tribunal said the petitioner was able to prove the allegation of the invalidity of some of the votes on the grounds that the election was not in compliance with the provision of the Electoral Act, 2022.

Therefore, the tribunal ordered that the invalid votes be expunged from Yusuf’s scores.