The Supreme Court has fixed Thursday for the hearing of appeal by the Kano State Governor Kabir Abba Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) over the governorship tussle in the state.
Governor Yusuf is asking the apex court to set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal that upheld the verdict of the Election Petitions Tribunal which sacked him and declared Dr Nasiru Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the March 11 governorship poll in Kano State.
One of the lawyers to Governor Yusuf, Bar Bashir Tudun Waziri, confirmed that the hearing notice has been given to the legal team representing Kano Governor and his party.
It is important to note that a three-member panel of the Appeal Court had dismissed Governor Yusuf’s appeal, saying that the Kano Governor was not a registered member of the NNPP as of the time he contested the governorship election.
But a certified true copy (CTC) of the judgment, which surfaced a few days later, gave a conflicting order while the Registrar of the Court of Appeal attributed the mix-up to clerical error.
The Kano Governor had filed 10 grounds of appeal at the Supreme Court, challenging his removal by the Court of Appeal.
Governor Yusuf’s 10 grounds of appeal are seeking three reliefs from the Supreme Court as follows:
An order allowing the appeal and setting aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal delivered on November 17, 2023.
“An order upholding the portion of the judgment of the Court of Appeal setting aside the judgment of the trial tribunal in petition No: EPT/RV/GOV/11/2023 and making an order as costs in favour of the appellant.
“Such further orders as this honourable court may deem appropriate in the circumstances of the appeal.”
The Court of Appeal had nullified the election of Governor Yusuf by declaring that the non-inclusion of his name in the register of his party held by INEC violated Section 177 (c) of the 1999 Constitution, which required a candidate vying for a governorship position to be a member of a political party.
The appellate court had sacked Yusuf and declared his opponent, Dr Nasiru Gawuna of the APC as the authentic Kano State Governor.
