By Kayode Lawal
The Supreme Court on Friday upheld Abba Yusuf as the duly elected governor of Kano state.
It subsequently in a Judgment delivered by Justice John Okoros set aside the verdicts of the Court of Appeal and election petitions tribunal, which nullified the victory of Yusuf in the March 18, 2023 governorship poll.
The Kano State Governor and candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party, Abba Yusuf, appealed to overturn the verdicts of the Court of Appeal and election petitions tribunal, which nullified his victory.
The two lower courts declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Nasir Gawuna, as the winner of the poll.
The judgment of the Court of Appeal sacking Yusuf created tension and provoked protests in Kano, following reported discrepancies in the certified true copy of the judgment, which the court later said was a clerical error.
Justice Okoro who delivered the lead judgment held that the law and natural justice were turned upside down by the two courts below to arrive at the unjust and unfair decision.
Okoro while voiding and setting aside judgments of the two lower courts said that miscarriage of justice in the ways and manners the petition against the governor was handled was manifesting.
The Court of Appeal and the Tribunal had in their concurrent judgments annulled the election of Yusuf of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) and declared
Nasiru Gawuna of the All Progressives Party, (APC) as winner of the March 18, 2023 Kano Governorship election.
However, the Supreme Court held that two major fundmental flaws were discovered in the findings of the Tribunal and the Count of Appeal which led to the miscarriage of justice.
Okoro added that the allegations of the APC that the Governor was not a member of the NNPP at the time he stood for the election and which the Tribunal used to overturn his victory is against the provisions of the law.
He held that membership of the NNPP by the governor cannot be challenged by APC on the ground of being internal affairs of the party.
“The issue of party membership cannot be raised as a post election matters as done by the APC and its governorship candidate and wrongly upheld by the Tribunal and the Court of Appeal.
“The Governor’s nomination was submitted to INEC in an NNPP letter head paper jointly signed by the party’ national Chairman and national Secretary.
“No member of the NNPP had queried the action except the APC in its petition before the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal”.
The Apex Court also reversed the unlawful removal of 165, 616 votes from the total votes cast for the NNPP and its governorship candidate at the poll.
The court said that there was no basis for the unlawful removal of the votes from the governor’s votes because the ballot papers used for the poll were duly issued by the INEC.
The apex court dismissed the allegations that the ballot papers were not signed and stamped at the back
Okoro said that there was no scintillating of evidence from any witness or documentary exhibits that the ballot papers were illegal and unlawful as erroneously concluded by the Court of Appeal
The apex court, therefore, agreed with the governor that miscarriage of justice was perpetrated against him in the ways and manners his election was nullified.
Okoro ordered that the 165, 616 votes unlawfully deducted from the governor be returned to him.
The Apex Court while allowing the appeal of the governor and the NNPP dismissed the two judgments earlier granted in favour of the APC and its governorship candidate on the ground that the judgments were erroneously entered in their favour.
