“In the circumstances, I resolve all the issues in favour of the appellant (NNPP) and against the 1st respondent (APC)”
The Court of Appeal presiding over the disputed Kano governorship poll actually set aside the judgment of the Kano Elections Petitions Tribunal, contrary to the judgment declared last week.
The certified true copy of the Appeal court judgment released on Tuesday revealed that the appellate court upheld the victory of Abba Kabiru Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) as duly elected governor of Kano against what the the court reeled out.
Persecondnews recalls that the three-member panel of the appeal court had on Friday November 17, 2023 dismissed the appeal filed by Gov. Yusuf on the grounds that he was not a member of the party when he was nominated for the election.
Consequently, the court affirmed Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress as winner of March 25, 2023 governorship poll.
In one instance, the appellate court declared: “I will conclude by stating that the live issues in this appeal are hereby resolved in favour of the 1st respondent (APC) and against the appellant (Governor Abba Yusuf)”, but went further to contradict itself in another sentence.
The court said: “In the circumstances, I resolve all the issues in favour of the appellant (NNPP) and against the 1st respondent (APC).”
The court further contradicted itself, declaring “Therefore, I find no merit in this appeal which is liable to be and is hereby dismissed.”
But in the final line of the judgment, the court set aside the judgment of the tribunal, which sacked the governor.
“The judgment of the tribunal In Petition No.: EPT/KN/GOV/01/2023 between: ALL PROGRESSIVES CONGRESS (APC) v. INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION & 2 ORS. delivered on the 20th day of September, 2023 is hereby set aside,” the CTC of the judgement read.
The tribunal had on September 20 sacked the governor and declared APC’s Nasiru Gawuna winner of the poll.
Counsel to the governor, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) had appealed the verdict, asking the appellate court to set aside the judgment of the tribunal.
At a media briefing on Tuesday evening, the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Haruna Dederi, pointed out that page 67 of the certified copy of the judgement clearly indicated that the tribunal’s ruling that sacked Governor Yusuf was set aside.
“Contrary to what the justices read out to the public in the courtroom on the 17th November, the written evidence has vindicated Yusuf as legitimate Governor of Kano State.”
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