Tribunal Sacks Governor Abba Yusuf, Declares APC’s Nasiru Gawuna Winner In Kano
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has won the Kano State governorship election, according to the verdict of the Election Petitions Tribunal on Wednesday.
The tribunal ruled that the candidate of the APC, Nasiru Gawuna, was the rightful winner of the March 18 poll, and nullified the victory of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) candidate, Abba Kabir Yusuf.
The tribunal, which delivered its judgment via Zoom, a teleconference service, said that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) erred in declaring Yusuf as the winner of the election.
The tribunal deducted 165,663 votes from Yusuf’s total, stating that they were invalid because the ballot papers were not stamped or signed by INEC officials.
The tribunal also ordered INEC to withdraw the certificate of return it issued to Yusuf, and present a new one to Gawuna. With the deduction of the invalid votes, Gawuna emerged as the winner of the election with 890,705 votes, while Yusuf came second with 853,939 votes.
The APC had filed a petition at the tribunal to challenge the results declared by INEC, which showed that Yusuf polled 1,019,602 votes to defeat Gawuna, who scored 890,705 votes. Yusuf had a margin of 128,897 votes over Gawuna.
However, after INEC’s declaration, Gawuna congratulated Yusuf on his victory, but the APC decided to seek legal redress at the tribunal. The tribunal’s ruling came weeks after lawyers of both parties made their closing arguments on behalf of their clients on August 21.
Meanwhile, some journalists who went to cover the tribunal’s sitting were denied access to the court premises. The Kano State Commissioner of Police, Usaini Muhammed Gumel, explained that the court only permitted 50 people to attend the sitting.
He said that the number included the judges, lawyers of the two parties and their members, journalists and the media. He added that it was not the police that limited the number of attendees.
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