The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Kano has sacked Governor Abba Yusuf of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP).
The Tribunal declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nasiru Gawuna winner of the election in the State.
When the proceedings commenced before 10 am today, September 20, Justice Oluyemi Akintan-Osadebay, Chairman of the three-member panel, spoke via Zoom.
The APC candidate had challenged the victory of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf.
The Tribunal ordered the withdrawal of the Certificate of Return given to Yusuf by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
In reaching the conclusion, the Tribunal deducted 165,663 votes from the total votes scored by Yusuf on the grounds that the ballot papers (165,663) were not stamped or signed and were therefore invalid.
Yusuf was declared to have defeated Gawuna with 128,879 votes in the March 28, 2023 election.
This was after the NNPP candidate for the poll was credited with 1,019,602 and the APC flag bearer was said to have scored 890,705 votes.
The ruling came after lawyers of both parties made their closing arguments on behalf of their clients before the Tribunal on August 21, 2023.
Journalists, lawyers, party members and many others were denied access into the court at the ruling today.
The Secretariat had said earlier that there would be no live broadcast of the judgment and that the few journalists admitted into the court would not make use of smartphones or cameras.
Top security officials had also hinted that they did not know the whereabouts of the judges and that it was possible that the proceeding would be virtual.
