The Kano State Governorship Election Tribunal on Wednesday sacked Abba Kabiru Yusuf of the NNPP as Kano State governor.
The three-man panel led by Justice Oluyemi Akintan-Osadebay commenced proceedings virtually via Zoom, transmitting the proceedings at Miller Road venue of the tribunal.
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The court invalidated Yusuf’s election as Kano State governor and declared candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Nasir Gawuna as the winner of the March 2023 governorship election held in the state.
The Judgement came weeks after lawyers of both parties made their closing arguments on behalf of their clients on 21st August, 2023.
The court ruled that 165,663 votes of the governor were invalid.
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According to the judgment, the ballot papers for the 165,663 votes were not signed and stamped, therefore, they were invalid.
Recall the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared that the NNPP polled 1,019,602 votes to defeat the APC with its candidate, Nasir Gawuna, who scored 890,705 votes. The NNPP candidate thus won with a margin of 128,897 votes.
However, the APC filed a petition at the tribunal to challenge the results declared by the electoral body.
The court directed the Independent National Electoral Commission to withdraw the certificate of return earlier issued to Governor Yusuf and ordered INEC to issue a fresh certificate to the APC candidate with immediate effect.
On the second Preliminary Objection by INEC that the issue of sponsorship and membership of Governor Yusuf is an internal affair of the party, the tribunal ruled in favour of the electoral body.
However, the tribunal dismissed INEC’s Preliminary Objection challenging the petition on the grounds that Yusuf Gawuna, the APC candidate, was not joined in the case.
