The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has dismissed Governor of Kano State, Kabir Yusuf.
The panel affirmed the decision of the election petition tribunal led by Justice Oluyemi Akintan Osadebay which removed Yusuf as governor in September 2023.
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The tribunal had invalidated 165,663 votes polled by Yusuf for not having the ballot papers signed by the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC)
The governor’s votes haven reduced to 853,939 makes him come below Nasir Ganuwa, of the All Progressives Congress (APC) which sits at 890,705.
The Governor however rejected the verdict describing it as “unfair” and a “miscarriage of Justice”
At the court, Wole Olanipekun, SAN, lead for Yusuf, asked that the judgement of the tribunal be set aside.
The Senior Lawyer while kicking against the verdict disclosed that this was the first time the court will pass this kind of judgement.
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.
However, Akin Olujimi SAN, counsel for APC, opposed his plea, adding that the appeal court had stated clearly that ballot papers not having the required signature passed as electoral malpractice.
