From sharing ‘Aso Ebi’ to renovation of headquarters, how supreme court shattered Kano APC’s hope

If a soothsayer had told some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano State that the Supreme Court ruling will go the way of their opponents, they might have put up a fight.

After the March 18 ballot was lost, Nasir Gawuna, the party’s candidate had given an indication that he had accepted his fate but the party filed an appeal at the tribunal and won.

Similarly, the party also emerged victorious and perhaps that set a tone of the chain of events in the buildup to the Supreme Court ruling.

In this piece, we highlight some of the loud actions of Kano APC before the shaky feet of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) stabilized in Kano.

SHARING OF ASO EBI

Ahead of the Supreme Court judgement on the governorship election in the state, local chapters of APC in Kano distributed uniforms (popularly known as aso-ebi), to members for a planned swearing-in of its candidate, Gawuna.

In one of the uniforms, the inscription “Section 177” was boldly written on the T-shirt, in apparent reference to Section 177 of the Nigeria Constitution which spells out the criteria for becoming a governor in Nigeria.

The Court of Appeal had in affirming the sack of Governor Yusuf held that the governor did not meet the requirement of the section, specifically Section 177(3), which stated that a person shall be qualified for election to the office of Governor of a State if “he is a member of a political party and is sponsored by that political party”.

The APC had argued in the petition that the governor was not a member of the NNPP as at the time of the election based on the membership register of the NNPP submitted to INEC before the election and could not have been said to have been legally sponsored by the party.

Thus, producers of the uniforms said they believe the apex court would affirm the decision of the Court of Appeal.

RENOVATION OF HEADQUARTERS

The Kano Secretariat of the APC was renovated barely 24 hours before the commencement of hearing at the Supreme Court. The party secretariat located along Maiduguri road, which barely had any scripture or picture on its building, now has the picture of its gubernatorial candidate, Gawuna, the National Chairman of the party, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the state party chairman, Abdullahi Abbas.

Daily Trust had reported  how hoodlums ransacked the secretariat barely three hours after the announcement of incumbent Governor Yusuf as the winner of the 2023 gubernatorial election.

KANO APC FORUM 99.9% ‘HOPEFUL’  OF SUPREME COURT VICTORY

The APC former Special Advisers Forum said it was 99.9 per cent optimistic of victory at the Supreme Court judgment on the Kano Governorship dispute.

The Chairman of the forum, Dr. Abbati Bako, made this known while briefing Journalists in Kano two weeks ago.

While congratulating the party’s governorship candidate, Gawuna and his running mate, Murtala Sule Garo, on their victories at the Election Petition Tribunal and the Appeal Court, he had said the judgement would definitely stand at the apex court.

“I want to use this opportunity to congratulate our duly elected Governor Dr. Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna and his Deputy, Murtala Sule Garo during the last election as pronounced by the Election Tribunal as well as the Court of Appeal, we pray and hope that the Supreme Court judgment will also be in our favour, Inshallah. We are 99.9 per cent positive and hopeful of that,” Bako had said.

GANDUJE’S CONFIDENCE

Ganduje, said they were not afraid of facing the ousted governor of Kano State, Abba Yusuf, and his New Nigeria Peoples Party at the Supreme Court following their loss at the Court of Appeal on Friday.

The immediate past governor of Kano also hailed the judiciary for living up to expectations.

Ganduje’s praise came hours after an Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal affirmed the APC candidate, Nasiru Gawuna, as the winner of the governorship election in Kano.

Delivering judgment on the matter on Friday, the three-member panel led by Justice M.A Adumeh held that Yusuf was not qualified to contest the election as he was not in the membership register of his political party.

The National Chairman of APC, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, had also boasted that his party would match the NNPP grit for grit at the apex court after.

Addressing newsmen at his Asokoro residence, he had said: “I thank Allah for this important judgment. We have to thank the judiciary for providing a good administration of justice despite all the distractions that have taken place since the beginning of the case. There is no doubt this is a victory for democracy. It is a victory for APC and a victory for Kano State. “This is an indication that democracy has come to stay in Nigeria. Democracy we can say is matured in Nigeria. We have to thank all those stakeholders, even the political parties, even the NNPP that took us to the Appeal Court.

“There is no doubt that after the election you get into litigation. And the end is always determined by the judiciary. For Kano State, this victory is for all of us. We are fully aware of what happened during the election.

“A lot of malpractice took place and we took the issue to the tribunal. And by the grace of God, we got a fair judgment in favour of our great party, the APC. Now the government in power, the NNPP decided to go to the Court of Appeal, and this morning, the Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment of the lower court.

“By doing so, our gubernatorial candidate Dr. Nasiru Gawuna is the duly elected Governor of Kano State. But in all, probably they will go to the Supreme Court which is part of democracy. There is nothing wrong for them to go to the Supreme Court. We, too, are ready to meet them in the Supreme Court. And Inshallah, we will win in the Supreme Court as well.”