By Ken Afor
\The nullification of Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano State’s election which is currently under review by the Supreme Court, will be given its final judgement.
This decision was made on Thursday.
The matter was approved for judgement by a panel of five court members, with Justice Inyang Okoro leading the proceedings, following the adoption of briefs of argument by all parties involved.
It would be recalled, the Kano State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, in a virtual judgment delivered on September 20, removed Governor Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NPP) from his position and declared Nasiru Gawuna of the All Progressive Congress (APC) as the rightful winner of the governorship election that took place in the state on March 18.
In the ruling made by a three-member panel tribunal, headed by Justice Oluyemi Akintan-Osadebay, concluded that certain ballot papers, which were used to declare Yusuf as the winner, lacked the necessary signatures and stamps from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The court therefore ruled that 165,663 votes credited to the NNPP candidate were subsequently declared invalid.
After invalid votes were subtracted, Yusuf’s initial victory in the governorship poll with a total of 1,019,602 votes was diminished to 853,939 votes.
Following the progress, Ganuwa, the closest competitor and candidate of the APC, emerged victorious in the election, securing a total of 890,705 votes.
Governor Yusuf, discontented with the ruling, sought recourse at the Court of Appeal. On November 17, the tribunal’s decision was affirmed by the appellate court.
The gubernatorial election held in the state on March 18 faced a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of justices in the appellate court.
The court therefore concluded that Governor Yusuf was an invalid candidate due to the proof of evidence presented, which established that he was not a member of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, during the election.
The court ruled that Yusuf, as per section 177(c) of the amended 1999 Constitution, did not meet the requirements to participate in the governorship election as he was not properly endorsed by the NNPP.
“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,” the court held in its lead judgement that was delivered by Justice M. U. Adumeh.
Citing the Constitution, a person must be a member of a political party in order to be eligible for the position of a state governor.
Furthermore, the court of appeals ruled that political parties are required by section 77 (2) and (3) of the Electoral Act to keep a record of their members, which must be accessible to INEC.
The tribunal’s decision to not disqualify the Appellant was deemed incorrect by stating that his name was not listed in NNPP’s membership register.
The court, however, determined that the party’s choice to support a non-member candidate in the governorship race had severe consequences for its own interests.
As a result, it ruled that governor Yusuf’s involvement in the election, without proper sponsorship from a political party, was completely invalid.
In addition, the court ordered him to pay N1 million in costs.
The certified true copy of the appellate court’s judgement sparked controversy when it was revealed that the concluding part affirmed Governor Yusuf’s election.
However, the court dismissed this as a mere “clerical error” and maintained its judgement, which removed the governor from office and declared Gawuna of the APC as the rightful winner of the governorship poll.
