Appeal Court judgement document affirms Kano governor’s victory amidst contradiction
A certified copy of the Appeal Court judgement on Kano State Governorship election has affirmed the victory of Abba Yusuf as the duly elected Governor.
As indicated in the written judgement, the Court of Appeal set aside the judgement of the Kano election petition tribunal for lacking in merit.
In the evidence contained in page 67 of the copy of the Appeal Court judgement released on Tuesday, signed by the registrar, Mr Jameel Ibrahim Umar, the appellate court upheld the victory of Abba Kabiru Yusuf of the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP.
Recall that the three-member panel of the Appellate Court had in a unanimous judgment delivered on Friday, November 17, 2023, dismissed the appeal filed by Governor Yusuf on the basis of his membership status.
The appellate court subsequently affirmed Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress, APC, as winner of March 25, 2023, governorship poll in Kano.
But the one- page document indicating that the Court of Appeal affirmed the victory of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in the judgment on March 18 Kano governorship election delivered last Friday is creating confusion in the political space across the country.
Kano State Government sought to give authenticity to the document in a statement released by Governor Yusuf’s Chief Press Secretary, Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, on Tuesday night.
In the statement, the press secretary said: “A certified copy of Appeal court Judgement on Kano state Governorship election has affirmed the victory of Abba Kabiru Yusuf as duly elected Governor of Kano state.”
“In the fresh revelation as indicated in the written judgement, the Court of Appeal, set aside the judgement of the Kano election petition tribunal for lacking in merit.
Also addressing journalists on Tuesday evening, the Kano State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Haruna Dederi said page 67 of the certified copy of the judgement clearly indicated that the tribunal’s ruling that sacked Governor Yusuf was set aside.
Barrister Dederi insisted that contrary to what the judges read to the public in the courtroom on 17th November, the written evidence has vindicated Yusuf as the legitimate Governor of Kano State.
