The All Progressives Congress (APC) has filed a cross appeal at the Supreme Court of Nigeria, alleging that Governor Abba Yusuf’s supposed certificate forgery disqualifies him from holding the Kano State governorship position.
This comes despite the APC’s previous victories against Yusuf at the Kano State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal and the Court of Appeal.
Gistcore media reports that the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja had dismissed the appeal filed by Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), against the judgment of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal which declared the All Progressive Congress (APC) flagbearer, Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna, as the winner of the state’s governorship poll held on March 18.
In March 2023, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Abba Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) the winner of the Kano governorship election, with a margin of over 100,000 votes.
The APC challenged the election outcome at the Tribunal, alleging electoral malpractice.
In September 2023, the Tribunal nullified Yusuf’s election, citing over 160,000 invalid votes due to missing signatures and stamps on the ballot papers.
Yusuf, however, appealed the Tribunal’s decision to the Court of Appeal.
In November 2023, the Court of Appeal upheld the Tribunal’s ruling, further disqualifying Yusuf for failing to submit his NNPP membership register to INEC.
However, a discrepancy arose between the judgment read in court and the certified true copy (CTC) of the judgment.
The NNPP appealed to the Supreme Court, claiming that the CTC upheld Yusuf’s election but the Court of Appeal acknowledged a clerical error in the CTC and promised correction.
The APC has filed a cross appeal at the Supreme Court, alleging that Yusuf’s Form EC9 submitted to INEC constitutes a forged certificate, making him unqualified to contest the election under Section 182(1)(j) of the 1999 Constitution.
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