Gawuna did not congratulate Kano gov – Star witness

The All Progressives Congress (APC) returning agent during the 2023 governorship election in Kano, Rabiu Suleiman Bichi, has said the party’s governorship candidate, Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna did not congratulate his opponent of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Abba Kabir Yusuf, after the outcome of the election.

Bichi, who was the 31st witness presented before the Kano Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, said this under cross-examination.

At the resumed sitting, counsel to the petitioner, Offiong Offiong, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), led in evidence, presented Pw31 and Pw32.

Pw31, Rabiu Suleiman Bichi, a politician and returning agent for APC, in his statement of oath dated April 9, said he submitted the list of all the party’s agents to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

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He said he was at the briefing by the party but never heard where and when Gawuna congratulated Yusuf.

Daily Trust on Sunday had reported that Gawuna had, in an audio clip widely circulated across the media, conceded defeat and congratulated Yusuf and prayed for God’s continued guidance.

Gawuna also noted this in a statement issued to newsmen in Kano by his chief press secretary, Hassan Musa Fagge.

According to the statement, “I am congratulating him, and I pray for Allah’s guidance in his administration.

“Initially, we have prayed to Allah to choose what is best for us because He is the Almighty who gives power to whom He wishes.”

Earlier, the governor of Kano State, Abba Kabir Yusuf, had tendered a copy of the NNPP membership register before the Kano State Governorship Election Tribunal as an exhibit.

Recall that the APC, on April 9, filed a petition challenging the INEC for declaring Yusuf of the NNPP winner of the election conducted on March 18, 2023.

The three-man panel, led by Justice Oluyemi Akintan Osadebay, adjourned the matter to July 20.