Spokesperson for the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Ladipo Johnson, has said that the controversy surrounding the Certified True Copy of the Appeal Court ruling on the Kano State governorship election dispute will be addressed at Supreme Court.
The Court of Appeal had upheld the decision of the Kano election petition tribunal, which sacked Governor Abba Yusuf of the NNPP and declared the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Nasiru Gawuna, as winner.
The three-member panel of the Appeal Court dismissed the appeal filed by Governor Yusuf based on his membership status of the NNPP.
Confusion, however, ensued on Tuesday, when the CTC of the court judgement, which surfaced four days after the judgment, showed contradictions in the conclusions.
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In the lead judgement delivered by Justice Moore Adumein, the judge held in one of the concluding paragraphs on Page 68, “I will conclude by stating that the live issues in this appeal are hereby resolved in favour of the 1st respondent and against the appellant.”
The appellant is Governor Yusuf; while the 1st respondent is the All Progressives Congress (APC) with the Independent National Electoral Commission and the NNPP listed as 2nd and 3rd respondents respectively.
The judge went further to hold that “In the circumstances, I resolve all the issues in favour of the appellant and against the 1st respondent.
“Therefore, I find no merit in this appeal which is liable to be and is hereby dismissed,” the CTC stated in part.
Responding to the development on Arise TV, the NNPP spokesperson expressed disdain for the controversy surrounding the CTC.
Johnson described the contradiction as laughable, stating that the optics looked bad for the judiciary as a whole.
“When you deliver judgement on Friday and you don’t give the Certified True Copy to the court until five days later, it really makes no sense. You begin to wonder, ‘what is going on?’
“What ever it is, it shows that this is scandalous; a scandalous judicial debacle that we are facing.”
He also suspected foul play and suggested the matter be taken to the Supreme Court to sort out technicalities.
“It’s not a sense of jubilation it’s a sense of sadness that the judiciary has brought us to this place that we are. But the issue is not just for the Supreme Court to review. NJC (National Judicial Council) must thoroughly investigate what has happened.
“This might mean they will need to use an independent investigator. It is sad that we have got to this stage. How can we have a conflicting issue at the court of appeal? So, the issue will be treated at the Supreme Court.”
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