The Kano State governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and his main challenger in the 2019 governorship election, Abba Kabir Yusuf, an engineer, popularly known as Abba Gida-Gida, have separately expressed optimism as the Supreme Court is set to hear the case challenging the outcome of the poll tomorrow.
On Friday evening, the Supreme Court notified the parties about the hearing, slated for Monday, Daily Trust on Sunday gathered.
The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Abba Gida-Gida, is challenging the victory of Ganduje at the polls over alleged “irregularities.”
The PDP candidate approached the Supreme Court after failing to get the Election Petitions Tribunal and the Appeal Court to upturn Ganduje’s victory.
Speaking about the case yesterday, Ganduje said he was expecting victory at the end of the hearing.
The governor, who spoke though the state’s Commissioner for Information, Malam Muhammadu Garba, said he hoped the apex court would go the way of the two lower courts.
“In shaa Allah (God’s willing) the apex court will further uphold the verdicts of the Election Petition Tribunal and the Appeal Court, respectively. The two judgements are in our favour and we are hoping that the Supreme Court would uphold them.’’
Also commenting on the matter, Abba Gida-Gida expressed optimism, saying the court would grant his prayer.
“As petitioners, we are very optimistic that the Supreme Court will treat our case with utmost level of fairness and objectivity. We keep our hope alive on the outcome of the Supreme Court,” Abba Gida-Gida said through his spokesperson, Alhaji Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa.
Not satisfied with the decision of the Appeal Court, the PDP candidate approached the Supreme Court in an effort to upturn the result of the election.
Some residents of Kano who spoke to Daily Trust on Sunday on the case said they were not aware that it would come up for hearing tomorrow.
Muhammad Kabir Musa, a trader along Court Road said, “I am not aware that the Supreme Court will hear the case between Ganduje and Abba Gida-Gida tomorrow. To be candid with you, since the tribunal delivered its verdict in Kano, I have never heard anything about this case again until the Appeal Court also gave its judgement.
“But I can assure you that there will be nothing like crisis in Kano because of this election tussle.”
Another resident, Alhaji Auwal Ibrahim also said, “Kano is a peaceful state and its people are peace-loving. They will never allow themselves to be used for any form of violence. I am confident that whoever wins at the Supreme Court between Abba Gida-Gida and Ganduje, the state will not experience any violence.”
One of the counsels to the PDP, Maliki Kuliya, confirmed that the Supreme Court had communicated to them through a text message regarding its decision to hear the case.
“I have confirmed from the leading counsel that the Supreme Court will hear the case tomorrow. He had confirmed to me that he was notified about tomorrow’s hearing through SMS. We are hopeful that the PDP will win the case,” he said.
The Supreme Court last week delivered judgements in four governorship election cases brought before it, namely, Abia, Delta, Niger and Taraba, bringing the number to 12. Daily Trust on Sunday, however, observes that none of the governors whose elections were challenged lost at the apex court.
