Appeal court sacks Abba Yusuf as Kano governor

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has affirmed the judgment of the Kano governorship election petition tribunal, which sacked Abba Yusuf from his position as the governor of the state.

News Nexus reports that a three-man panel of judges led by Justice Oluyemi Akintan Osadebay sacked Yusuf on September 20, 2023, by declaring 165,663 of his votes invalid.

The three-member panel of judges led by Oluyemi said the votes were invalid because they were not signed or stamped by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

In its judgment, the court ruled that the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) breached the constitution by endorsing Yusuf, who was not a member of the party as its gubernatorial candidate in Kano.

Yusuf in September rejected the judgment of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which removed him as Kano State governor and announced the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Nadir Gawuna, as the winner of the March 18 election.

He said as a result of this he would seek justice at the Court of Appeal.

The tribunal removed Yusuf as governor after deducting 165,663 votes from the total votes he scored during the election.

Justice Moore Adumein read the unanimous judgment, which was greeted with thunderous jubilations that shook the court for several minutes.