News Investigators/ The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja Friday nullified the election of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State.
The Court affirmed the verdict of the Kano State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal that earlier sacked Mr. Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and declared Nasiru Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the March 18 election.
It would be recalled that a three-man panel of judges led by Justice Oluyemi Akintan Osadebay had sacked Mr. Yusuf on September 20, 2023, after declaring 165,663 of his votes invalid.
In a judgment delivered on Friday, a three-member panel of the appellate court led by Justice Oluyemi Osadebay held that the NNPP breached constitutional provisions by sponsoring Yusuf who was not a member of the party.
The decision of the court was based on the invalidation of 165,663 votes which were found not to bear the signatures or stamps of INEC.
The adjustment brought Yusuf’s total votes to 853,939, whereas his APC counterpart, maintains 890,705 votes.
Despite Yusuf’s dissent with the tribunal’s decision, the Appeal Court upheld the finding of electoral malpractice arising from the absence of signatures on the ballots.
