The Supreme Court has on Friday upheld the election of Abbas Yusuf as the rightful winner of the gubernatorial election in Kano.
The highest court’s five-member panel declared that both the tribunal and the court of appeal made a mistake in removing Yusuf, the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) candidate, from the position of the state governor.
The tribunal had nullified Governor Abba Yusuf’s victory from the New Nigeria Peoples Party, citing the invalidation of 165,663 votes. The deduction was based on the tribunal’s findings that these votes were from unstamped and unsigned ballot papers.
Seeking redress, Yusuf turned to the appeal court, which affirmed the tribunal’s decision and criticized the lower court for failing to disqualify the governor.
The appellate court said the governor was not properly sponsored by the New Nigeria Peoples Party, thus violating the provisions of Section 177 of the constitution.
At the Supreme Court, however, Justice John Okoro ordered that all the ballot papers from which the appellant votes were deducted should be restored to the governor.
According to him, the specified paper features the INEC logo and the coat of arms in accordance with the requirements of the Electoral Act.
He also held that the issue of party membership is an internal affair of the party.