Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano State was declared the winner of the March 18 governorship election by the Court of Appeal in Abuja.
The appeal of All Progressives Congress member Nasir Yusuf Gawuna was upheld by a three-judge bench presided over by Justice Moore A. Adumein. (APC).
The tribunal determined that Yusuf, a member of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), lacked party registration and, as a result, was unable to run for office.
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The panel decided that, in accordance with Section 77 of the Electoral Act of 2022, each political party must keep a record of its members.
To his own prejudice, the appellant failed to turn in his NNPP membership record and even to tendered his statement under oath attesting to his party membership, according to the court.
According to the court, political parties are required by the 1999 Constitution to maintain a membership register and provide it to INEC and the Tribunal upon request.
Justice Adumein declared, “As rightfully found, Yusuf Abba was not qualified to contest the March Governorship Election and he was not a member of the NNPP at the time he was purportedly sponsored by his party.”
The March 18 election resulted in Gawuna being declared the winner by the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal.
In response to the APC’s petition, the tribunal on September 20 reversed the Independent National Electronic Electoral Commission’s (INEC) pronouncement that Yusuf had received 1,019,602 votes compared to Gawuna’s 890,705 votes.
The APC had accused them of electoral misbehaviour.
The panel agreed with the APC to declare the election void because more than 160,000 ballots “were not signed or stamped by INEC.”
A later reduction of 165,663 votes for Yusuf brought his total to 853,939; Ganuwa’s 890,705 votes remained unaffected.
