Supreme Court reserves judgment in Kano guber dispute

The Supreme Court has reserved judgment in the appeal over the Kano State governorship election.

A five-member panel of justices presided by Justice Inyang Okoro on Thursday reserved the judgment after listening to lawyers in the matter.

Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano State and the New Nigeria People Party (NNPP) had filed the appeal challenging the November 17 judgment of the Court of Appeal, which nullified their victory in the March 19 governorship election.

The party are also notifying the apex court of the contradictions in the CTC of the judgment which upheld the governor’s election and awarded him the sum of N1 million in damages.
A three-member panel of justices led by Justice Moore A. Adumein upheld the appeal of Nasir Yusuf Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The panel held that Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) was not a registered member of the party and, therefore, not qualified to contest the election.

However, in the long argument before the apex court on Thursday, parties raised issues concerning the jurisdiction of the court in political party membership of a candidate.

The lawyers also argued over whether the court could “visit the sin” of INEC’ failure to sign over 160,000 ballot papers on the voters in Kano State.