Tribunal Sacks NNPP House of Reps Over Forged Primary Six Certificate

The National and State House of Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal in Kano has revoked the mandate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) candidate, Muktar Umar Yerima, for Tarauni Federal Constituency. This means that the NNPP has lost one of its seats in the House of Representatives, where it had 10 members before the tribunal’s decision.

The tribunal also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withdraw the certificate of return it had issued to Yerima.

Yerima’s election was challenged by Hafizu Kawu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who alleged that Yerima was not qualified to contest because he had forged his primary school certificate.

Yerima had claimed that he had a change of name in 2022, but the tribunal found that he had been using three names (Umar Mukhtar Zakari) on his international passports since 2009, while his primary school certificate still bore Umar Mukhtar.

The tribunal also found that the primary school, Hausawa Primary School, had disowned the certificate presented by Yerima.

The three-man panel of the tribunal, led by Justice I.P. Chima, held that Yerima was not qualified to contest the election and that the NNPP had no candidate in the election.

The tribunal, therefore, nullified Yerima’s election and ordered INEC to withdraw his certificate of return.

The tribunal also found that Hausawa Primary School, the school that Yerima claimed to have attended, has disowned the certificate tendered by the sacked lawmaker.

As a result of the tribunal’s ruling, the NNPP has no candidate in the Tarauni Federal Constituency election.

The tribunal found in favour of Kawu, highlighting a compelling case of alleged forgery against Yerima. As a result, the tribunal determined that the NNPP had no legitimate candidate in the election and declared all the votes cast for Yerima as “wasted votes”.

This is a significant ruling, as it sets a precedent for future elections. It shows that candidates who forge their academic credentials will not be allowed to participate in elections. This is a positive development for Nigerian democracy, as it helps to ensure that only qualified candidates are elected to office.

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