The Court of Appeal, located in Abuja, has initiated the hearing of an appeal brought forth by Governor Abba Yusuf. The appeal is challenging his removal by the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Kano state/
Governor Yusuf’s legal challenge against his removal has entered a crucial phase with the commencement of hearings at the Court of Appeal in the nation’s capital.
The tribunal nullified Governor Yusuf’s election by declaring 165,663 of his votes invalid, saying they were not signed or stamped by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
INEC had declared him the winner of the March 18 election after he secured 1,019,602 votes against his opponent, Nasiru Gawuna, of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who secured 890,705 votes.
However, after the tribunal deducted the 165,663 votes from his tally, his votes were reduced to 853,939, over 30,000 votes less than Gawuna’s figure.
The court declared the APC candidate the winner of the governorship election and ordered the INEC to withdraw Governor Yusuf’s certificate of return and give Gawuna a new one.
Yusuf and his party, the New Nigeria Peoples Party, appealed the tribunal’s judgement and contracted the famous Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Wole Olaonipekun, to handle the case.
