The election of Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf in the March 18 governorship election was declared null and void by the Court of Appeal in Abuja.
A three-judge bench led by Justice Moore A. Adumein approved Nasir Yusuf Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s appeal.
The tribunal determined that Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) was not a registered member of the party and so ineligible to run in the election.
According to Section 77 of the Electoral Act of 2022, every political party must keep a registry of its members.
The court stated that the appellant acted in his own self-interest by failing to produce his NNPP membership registration or even his oath of membership in the party.
According to the court, the 1999 Constitution requires political parties to maintain a membership register and to present it to INEC and the Tribunal as needed.
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“As rightfully found, Yusuf Abba was not a member of the NNPP at the time he was purportedly sponsored by his party and he was not qualified to contest the March Governorship Election,” Justice Adumein said.
The Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal had declared Gawuna winner of the March 18 election.
The tribunal on September 20 overturned the Independent National Electronic Electoral Commission (INEC)’s announcement of Yusuf with 1,019,602 votes against Gawuna’s 890,705 votes following APC’s petition
The APC had alleged electoral malpractices.
In nullifying the election, the tribunal agreed with the APC that over 160,000 ballot papers “were not signed or stamped by INEC.”
Yusuf’s votes were subsequently reduced by 165,663 to 853,939 while Ganuwa’s 890,705 votes were not affected.
