Supreme Court Reserves Judgment In Kano Gov Poll

On Thursday, the Supreme Court postponed making a decision in Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf’s appeal against the Appeal Court’s decision to remove him from office.

Following the hearing of the parties’ closing arguments, the five-member panel of justices, led by Justice Inyang Okoro, reserved their verdict.

In an appeal against the Court of Appeal’s November 17 decision, which named All Progressives Congress candidate Yusuf Gawuna the victor of the March 26, 2023, gubernatorial election, Yusuf and the New Nigeria People Party filed.

According to The PUNCH, Yusuf promised to go back to the Supreme Court to get his mandate back after the Court of Appeal supported the electoral tribunal’s decision to fire him.

The tribunal that dismissed Yusuf and named APC candidate Gawuna the winner of the March 18 election was affirmed by the appellate court in Abuja.

Yusuf’s election was declared void by the Tribunal, which was presided over by Justice Oluyemi Osadebay, after 165, 663 of his votes were deemed illegitimate.

The Independent National Electoral Commission did not sign or stamp the ballot papers, according to the tribunal.

The appeal court ruled on Friday, stating that Yusuf lacked the necessary qualifications to testify in the election.

The three-person panel, chaired by Justice M.A. Adumeh, concluded that Yusuf was not listed on his political party’s membership roster.

He stated that a party needs to have hard and soft copies of the names of its registered members, citing a clause in the election legislation.

Additionally, he claimed that Yusuf offered no opposition to the accusation.

 “If you claim you are a member of a party is not logical to say so yourself rather than by proxy? the judge asked.