BY TIMOTHY AGBOR AND BENEDICT NWACHUKWU
The Kano State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, on Wednesday, sacked the state governor, Yusuf Abba, of the New Nigeria People’s Party.
The tribunal, therefore, declared the All Progressives Congress candidate, Nasir Gawuna, winner of the March 18 governorship poll.
The three-man panel, led by Justice Oluyemi Akintan-Osadebay, commenced the proceedings virtually a few minutes before 10:00 am and transmitted from Miller Road, Kano venue of the Election Petition Tribunal.
It further withdrew the Certificate of Return presented to Yusuf by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
INEC had declared that Yusuf polled 1,019,602 votes to defeat Gawuna, who scored 890,705 votes.
The court deducted 165,663 votes from Yusuf’s total as invalid votes, stating that the affected ballot papers were not stamped or signed and therefore declared invalid.
The ruling came about six months after the APC candidate conceded defeat to Yusuf in the wake of INEC’s presentation of the certificate of return to the NNPP candidate.
In a two-minute audio statement on March 29, Gawuna stated that “as a good Muslim”, he was compelled to accept the outcome of the election, whether in his favour or not.
He added that although his campaign team had requested a review of the election results by INEC, upon review, the commission had found Yusuf to be the winner of the election.
Tribunal judgment a farce -Ladipo
However, a member of the National Working Committee of the NNPP, Johnson Ladipo, has described the judgment of the Kano State governorship election petitions tribunal as a farce.
Ladipo, a legal practitioner, in his reaction claimed that the majority of voters in Kano state are NNPP supporters who trooped out to vote for the NNPP candidate.
“Well we all know that the preponderance of the greater public in Kano is NNPP supporters. Whatever the tribunal has done towards those votes or whatever, to me is just a farce but we need time to study the judgment and of course we will appeal.
“I know this case will get to the Supreme Court. But for now I have not studied the judgment, I am a lawyer; I need to study the judgment before I can go into details. But for sure, we will appeal.
“I’m a legal practitioner sir, apart from being a politician. And I won’t tell you that I have seen any foul play by the judges.
“I haven’t read it but I wonder why they would give their judgments by zoom instead of being at the tribunal. All these things are the things that will lead to various insinuations but let me stop short of saying that.”
Government declares 24-hour curfew in Kano
Meanwhile, a 24-hour curfew has been declared in Kano State following the judgment of the election petitions tribunal sacking the state governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf.
The Commissioner of Police, Muhammad Usaini Gumel, in a statement he personally signed, said a combined team of security operatives have been dispatched across the city to enforce the curfew.
“In view of the constitutional mandate of the Nigeria Police Force alongside the relevant internal security and law enforcement agencies to preserve law and order in the state, the Kano State Police Command has mapped out strategies in that direction and called on the good people of the state to give the necessary confidence and support.
“Going forward, Kano State residents are called upon to note that combined security forces have already been dispatched to the nooks and crannies including the entry and exits of the state to ensure enforcement and strict compliance of the Twenty-Four Hours (24hrs) curfew order as communicated by the State Government via letter with Reference No: K/SEC/H/435/T.1/153 dated 20th September, 2023 taking effect from 6pm of Wednesday, 20th September to 6pm of Thursday, 21st September 2023.
“Violators will be arrested and made to face the full wrath of the law.
“Finally, I wish to appreciate all the peace-loving people of the state and urge them to remain law-abiding as it’s in the best interest of all that we come together to maintain law and order in the State,” he said.
There was apprehension in the state following the judgment that declared Nasir Yusuf Gawuna of the APC as the winner of the elections.
Residents were seen scampering and running to close their shops and business places for fear of attacks by hoodlums.
The state witnessed several looting, vandalisation and arson in March after Governor Yusuf was declared as the winner of the elections.
A resident who preferred anonymity told The Point in a telephone conversation that the judgment threw up confusion and unrest in the Kano metropolis which led to people scampering for safety as the supporters of the sacked governor took to the streets to protest against the judgment.
He said the residents of Kano were happy with the judgment because Abba Yusuf abandoned governance and was busy fighting the former governor, Abdullahi Ganduje.
“All his actions were tailored towards fighting our former governor. Even their leader Kwankwaso does not believe in politics with bitterness that was why after losing in his bid for a reelection, we still voted for him after eight years of governor Shekerau and he didn’t witch-hunt him,” the resident said.
Last week, high ranking members of the NNPP in the state had threatened the tribunal judges should the judgment go in favour of the petitioner, Gawuna of the APC.
Tribunal upholds Bauchi Gov’s election
In a similar development, the Bauchi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has upheld the victory of Governor Bala Mohammed in the March 18, 2023 governorship election.
Delivering the judgement on Wednesday, Chairman of the three panel of the Tribunal, Justice P.T Kwahar, dismissed the petition of the APC, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar (rtd), who challenged the result of the election.
The tribunal held that the petitioners failed to prove their allegations on non-compliance with Electoral Act, electoral irregularities as well as bypass of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (B-VAS) machines in some polling units of Toro, Dass, Zaki, Itas-Gadau, Alkaleri, Bauchi, Tafawa Balewa, Ningi, Dambam and Ganjuwa Local Government Areas.
He held that there was no tangible evidence to show that the BVAS was truly manipulated.
The judge explained that the witnesses brought by the petitioner presented evidence based on hearsay as they were not present at the polling units, “they have failed to establish beyond reasonable doubt that the APC candidate won the election.
“This court therefore returns the second respondent as the elected governor of Bauchi State by the first respondent in the conduct of the governorship election of the 18th of March, 2023,” he held.
