The Supreme Court has upheld the election of Abba Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) as Governor of Kano State, setting aside the decision of the lower courts, which sacked the governor.
In November 2023, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal led by Moore Adumein, in a unanimous judgement sacked Governor Yusuf and declared Nasiru Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the 18 March governorship election in the state, thus affirming the decision of the election tribunal which held that Yusuf did not win the majority of the lawful votes in the election.
The court also deducted 165,663 votes from Yusuf’s total votes claiming the votes are invalid because the ballot papers were not stamped or signed.
The appellate court further disqualified Governor Yusuf as a candidate in the election, saying that he was not a member of the NNPP as of the time of the election.
However, Justice John Okoro, who read the Apex court judgement on Friday, said the Court of Appeal was wrong in affirming the decision of the tribunal.
The Supreme Court based its judgement on whether the lower court was right in deducting 165,616 from the votes the Independent National Electoral Commission announced for the governor and whether the lower court could determine the issue of party membership.
In the judgement, Justice Okoro held that the tribunal was wrong in deducting 165,616 votes accrued to Yusuf and ordered that all the ballot papers from which the appellant votes were deducted should be restored to the governor.
The apex court also faulted the Court of Appeal for holding that Yusuf was not a member of the NNPP as of the time he contested the election, adding that the issue of nomination and sponsorship is a pre-election matter and outside the jurisdiction of the court.
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
