The Kano State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal has ousted Governor Yusuf Abba of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) and declared Nasir Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the rightful winner of the March 18 governorship election.
The tribunal delivered its judgment via a virtual session using the Zoom teleconference service, as the panel members were not physically present in the courtroom.
This ruling comes several weeks after lawyers from both parties presented their closing arguments on August 21.
It’s worth noting that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) initially declared the NNPP victorious with 1,019,602 votes, surpassing the APC candidate, Nasir Gawuna, who secured 890,705 votes, resulting in a margin of 128,897 votes in favor of the NNPP candidate.
However, the APC promptly filed a petition with the tribunal to challenge INEC’s declared results, contending that the outcome was flawed.
Governor Yusuf, who contested under the NNPP banner, was initially declared the winner by INEC, leading to congratulatory messages from Nasir Gawuna. Nevertheless, the APC pursued its legal challenge.
In a significant turn of events, the three-member tribunal panel ruled in favor of the APC, revoking Governor Yusuf’s certificate of return issued by INEC.
Instead, the tribunal directed the issuance of a certificate of return to Nasir Gawuna. The tribunal also invalidated 165,663 votes cast for Yusuf, citing the absence of proper stamping and signatures on the ballot papers.