KANO – The Court of Appeal in Abuja has invalidated the election of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State.
Previously, a panel of three judges, headed by Justice Oluyemi Akintan Osadebay, had removed Yusuf from office on September 20, 2023, after ruling that 165,663 of his votes were invalid.
The court determined that these votes lacked the necessary signatures or stamps from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The governor, who ran for office with the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), had his votes reduced to 853,939. Meanwhile, Nasir Ganuwa of the All Progressives Congress (APC) maintained his vote count at 890,705.
The Kano State Governorship Election Petition Court invalidated Yusuf’s election and declared the APC candidate as the rightful winner of the March 18 election.
Governor Yusuf then appealed the decision of the lower court at the appellate court.
The Appeal Court has confirmed the decision of the tribunal, stating that the governor was ineligible to participate in the election.
The court explained that Governor Yusuf was not a member of NNPP when the elections took place.
Justice Moore Adumein delivered the unanimous judgment, which was met with enthusiastic celebrations that reverberated through the court for several minutes.
