The Supreme Court on Friday January 12 2024, affirmed Abba Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) as the duly elected governor of Kano State. The apex court set aside the verdicts of the Court of Appeal and the election petitions tribunal, which nullified Yusuf’s victory in the March 18, 2023 governorship poll.
The five-member panel of justices of the Supreme Court, led by Justice John Okoro, delivered the unanimous verdict in Abuja. Justice Okoro, in the lead judgment, gave two reasons that favoured Governor Yusuf and his party.
Wrong Deductions of Votes
Court held that the two lower courts wrongly deducted 165,663 votes that were credited to Governor Yusuf by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). It held that the ballot papers were not invalid, as they carried the official mark and were duly issued by INEC, even though they did not contain any date. The court said that by section 63 (1) of the Electoral Act 2022, such ballot papers were valid and should not have been removed from Yusuf’s total.
Sponsorship as Domestic Affairs
Court also held that the issue of sponsorship of a candidate in an election was within the domestic affairs of a political party. It held that Yusuf was duly nominated by his political party, the NNPP, and was a member of the party as of the time of the election. The court dismissed the argument of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Nasiru Gawuna, that Yusuf was not properly sponsored by the NNPP.
Supreme Court therefore, upheld the election of Abba Yusuf as the valid winner of the governorship election held on March 18, 2023. Yusuf had polled 1,024,713 votes, while Gawuna had 987,819 votes, according to INEC’s declaration.
The court’s decision put an end to the legal battle that had lingered for almost a year, and restored Yusuf as the governor of Kano State, the most populous state in Nigeria.
