Posted by The Court of Appeal in Abuja upheld the Election Petition Tribunal’s decision to remove Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf.
The Appeal Court affirmed the tribunal’s decision on Friday, finding that Abba Yusuf’s inclusion on the ballot violated the Electoral Law since he lacked the necessary qualifications to run for office.
The Kano Governorship Election Petition Tribunal dismissed Yusuf and declared All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Nasiru Gawuna the victor of the March 18 election on September 20. This ruling comes about two months later.
After the March election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) proclaimed Yusuf, who ran on the platform of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), the winner.
The tribunal ruled that 165,663 votes cast for Yusuf were illegitimate because the ballots in question were either not properly stamped or signed.
About six months after INEC presented the certificate of return to the NNPP candidate, the APC candidate acknowledged the loss to Yusuf.
Gawuna said, “As a good Muslim,” he must accept the results of the election, whether they go in his favor or not, in a two-minute audio message he released on March 29.
He noted that although his campaign team had requested a review of the election results by INEC, upon assessment, the commission had found Yusuf to be the winner of the race.