Appeal Court sacks Kano Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf; upholds Bala Mohammed’s victory as Bauchi governor
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has affirmed the earlier ruling of the tribunal which declared Yusuf’s victory invalid due to the invalidation of 165,663 votes leading to the removal of Abba Kabir Yusuf from office as Kano governor.
The unanimous ruling by a three-member panel of justices held that Governor Yusuf was not a valid candidate in the gubernatorial election that took place on March 18.
The court stated that evidence presented by the parties convincingly established that Governor Yusuf was not a member of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) at the time of the election. This crucial factor, the court maintained, made Yusuf ineligible to contest the governorship election under section 177(c) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, since he was not validly sponsored by the NNPP.
Justice M. U. Adumeh, delivering the lead judgement, stated, “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.”
As a result, the governor’s votes were reduced to 853,939, while his All Progressives Congress (APC) rival, Nasir Ganuwa, maintained his tally at 890,705.
Governor Yusuf, who contested the tribunal’s decision, described it as “unfair” and “a miscarriage of justice.”
The legal battle moved to the Court of Appeal, where Wole Olanipekun, SAN, lead counsel for Yusuf, sought to set aside the tribunal’s judgment.
Olanipekun argued against the tribunal’s decision to annul the election over the non-signing of the back of ballot papers, stating that it was unprecedented in electoral history.
However, Akin Olujimi SAN, representing the APC, countered Olanipekun’s arguments, insisting that the Appeal Court explicitly deemed the non-signing of ballots as electoral malpractice.
Meanwhile, the Appeal Court, Abuja Division on Friday upheld the victory of Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State in the governorship election held on March 18.
The APC governorship candidate, former Chief of Air Staff, Sadique Abubakar, filed the Bauchi State governorship appeal against Bala Mohammed of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The Independent National Electoral Commission declared Governor Bala Mohammed of the Peoples Democratic Party winner.
Consequently, the All Progressives Congress, Sadique Abubakar, approached the governorship election petition tribunal sitting in the state, challenging the victory.
However, not satisfied with the tribunal’s judgment, Abubakar filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal challenging the lower court’s decision.
In its ruling on Friday, the court ruled that each party should bear their costs.
