The Kano State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal has overturned the victory of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf and declared Nasiru Gawuna, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner of the March 18 governorship election.
The tribunal delivered its judgment via Zoom, a teleconference service, as the panel members were not physically present in the courtroom. This ruling follows weeks of legal proceedings, with both parties’ lawyers presenting their closing arguments on behalf of their clients on August 21. It is worth noting that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had initially declared that the NNPP (Nigeria New Progressive Party) garnered 1,019,602 votes, defeating the APC, whose candidate, Nasir Gawuna, secured 890,705 votes. The NNPP candidate was declared the winner with a margin of 128,897 votes.
However, the APC had filed a petition at the tribunal challenging the results announced by INEC. Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, who had contested on the NNPP platform, was initially declared the winner of the election by INEC.
Following INEC’s declaration, Nasir Gawuna extended his congratulations to Governor Yusuf. Nevertheless, the All Progressives Congress proceeded to take the matter to court to challenge the election outcome.
In its verdict on Wednesday, the three-member tribunal ordered the withdrawal of the certificate of return that had been presented to Governor Yusuf by INEC. Instead, it directed that a certificate of return be issued to Nasiru Gawuna. The tribunal made this decision based on the deduction of 165,663 votes from Governor Yusuf’s tally, deeming these votes invalid due to the absence of stamping or signing on the ballot papers. Consequently, these votes were declared invalid by the tribunal.
