The court further stated that Mr. Yusuf could not have been legitimately nominated to compete in the March election if he had not been a member of a political party.
The judge decided that Yusuf Abba was not a member of the NNPP when he was allegedly sponsored on March 18th forthe Kano governorship election
.
The governor, however, filed an appeal with the Court of Appeal, which is scheduled to rule today, contesting the tribunal’s ruling.
The Court of Appeal’s ruling is not final because anyone who is unhappy with the result can still file an appeal with the Supreme Court.
ling to disqualify Governor Yusuf, the appellant. The NNPP’s case is doomed because they failed to appropriately sponsor Mr. Yusuf in accordance with Section 177(c) of the constitution.
With 1,019,602 votes to Mr. Gawuna’s 890,705 votes, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Mr. Yusuf the victor of the election held on March 18.
Mr. Yusuf defeated Mr. Gawuna of the state’s then-ruling APC by riding on the goodwill of former governor Rabiu Kwankwaso and his political apparatus, the Kwankwasiya Movement.
At the Kano State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, however, Mr. Gawuna contested the results of the election.
On September 20, a three-person panel of the tribunal declared 165,663 of Mr. Yusuf’s votes to be invalid, setting aside his victory in a unanimous decision.
As a result, Mr. Gawuna—who received the most votes when Mr. Yusuf’s score was subtracted—was recognized by the lower tribunal as the legitimately elected candidate.
