Admin I Friday, Nov. 17, 2023
ABUJA, Nigeria – Court of Appeal, sitting in today invalidated the election victory of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State.
In a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of justices, the court determined that Governor Yusuf was not a legitimate candidate during the gubernatorial election held on March 18.
The court upheld that the evidence presented by the parties confirmed Governor Yusuf’s lack of membership in the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) at the time of the election. As per section 177(c) of the 1999 Constitution, the court concluded that Yusuf was ineligible to contest the governorship election since he was not properly sponsored by the NNPP.
Justice M. U. Adumeh, delivering the lead judgment, emphasized, “A person must be a member of a political party before he can be sponsored for an election. Sponsorship without membership is like putting something on nothing.”
Consequently, the appellate court affirmed the earlier ruling of the Kano state Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which invalidated Governor Yusuf’s election. Notably, the tribunal, led by Justice Oluyemi Akintan-Osadebay, had previously nullified Yusuf’s victory on September 20, declaring Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the rightful winner of the gubernatorial poll held on March 18.
The tribunal highlighted that certain ballot papers crucial to Yusuf’s victory lacked the signature or stamp of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Subsequently, 165,663 votes credited to the NNPP candidate were deemed invalid.
Consequent to the deduction of these invalidated votes, Governor Yusuf’s initial victory tally of 1,019,602 votes was reduced to 853,939 votes.
