The Court of Appeal, Kano Division, is set to hear the appeal filed by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State challenging the judgment of the Election Petitions Tribunal that removed him from office. A notice provided to the parties involved in the case has confirmed that the hearing for the suit with case number CA/KN/EP/GOV/KAN/34/2023 will take place on Monday at the Court of Appeal in Abuja.
The parties involved in the case include Governor Yusuf, his party, the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna, his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The Election Petitions Tribunal had previously ruled in favor of the APC by declaring its candidate, Gawuna, as the winner of the governorship election held on March 18. The tribunal nullified Governor Yusuf’s election, citing 165,663 of his votes as invalid because they were not signed or stamped by INEC.
Initially, INEC had declared Governor Yusuf as the winner of the governorship election, with 1,019,602 votes, compared to Gawuna’s 890,705 votes. However, after the tribunal deducted the 165,663 votes from Governor Yusuf, his total was reduced to 853,939, which was over 30,000 votes less than Gawuna’s 890,705 votes.
As a result, the court declared the APC candidate as the winner of the governorship election, ordering INEC to withdraw Governor Yusuf’s certificate of return and issue it to Gawuna. In response to the tribunal’s decision, Governor Yusuf and his party, NNPP, have taken the case to the appellate court to challenge the ruling.
