The Appeal Court sitting in Abuja has fixed Monday for hearing the appeal of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) against the judgement of Kano Election Petition Tribunal.
The tribunal in a virtual judgement, nullified the governorship election in Kano and affirmed All Progressive Congress’ Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna as the winner.
According to reports, a three-man panel of judges led by Justice Oluyemi Akintan Osadebay sacked Yusuf on September 20, 2023, by declaring 165,663 of his votes invalid because “they were not signed or stamped by INEC”.
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Subsequently, the governor filed an appeal to challenge the judgement as he described it as “unfair” and “a miscarriage of justice”.
Parties in the suit include Governor Yusuf and his party, NNPP as well as the opposition APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), according to Daily Trust.
INEC had declared Yusuf the winner of the March 18, 2023 election after he secured 1,019,602 votes against Gawuna who secured 890,705 votes.
However, after the tribunal deducted the 165,663 votes from Yusuf’s tally and his votes were reduced to 853,939, 30,000 votes less than the 890,705 votes polled by Gawuna.
Consequently, the court declared the APC candidate winner of the governorship election and ordered the INEC to withdraw Yusuf’s certificate.
