- At the court, Wole Olanipekun, SAN, lead for Yusuf, asked that the judgement of the tribunal be set aside.
- Akin Olujimi SAN, counsel for APC, countered him saying the Appeal Court stated emphatically that the non-signing of ballots amounted to electoral malpractice.
Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State has been fired by the Court of Appeal, which is located in Abuja.
The panel maintained the decision of the tribunal that dismissed Yusuf on September 20, 2023, under the direction of Justice Oluyemi Akintan Osadebay.
Because Yusuf’s 165,663 votes were not signed or stamped by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the lower court ruled that his votes, which he had submitted as a candidate for the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), were illegal.
Subsequently, the governor’s votes dropped to 853,939, while Nasir Ganuwa, his All Progressives Congress (APC) opponent, maintained 890,705 votes.
Yusuf had rejected the tribunal verdict, which he described as “unfair” and “a miscarriage of justice”, and headed to the appeal court.
At the court, Wole Olanipekun, SAN, lead for Yusuf, asked that the judgement of the tribunal be set aside.
Kicking against the ruling on ballot papers, the senior lawyer said that was the first time in the history that a tribunal would annul an election over non-signing of the back of ballot papers.
He had said the tribunal erred, arguing further that, that was the first time that a political party would file a matter without joining its candidate as a party in the petition and the candidate would declared winner of the polls.
But Akin Olujimi SAN, counsel for APC, countered him saying the Appeal Court stated emphatically that the non-signing of ballots amounted to electoral malpractice.
Details later…