Why the Kano State Election Tribunal Removed Governor Abba Kabiru Yusuf

A big surprise hit the political scene when the Kano State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal decided that Governor Abba Kabiru Yusuf should no longer be the leader. Instead, the tribunal declared Nasiru Gawuna from the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the rightful winner. Let’s find out why this happened.

The Margin of Victory

At first, it seemed like Abba Kabiru Yusuf, from the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), had won convincingly. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared him the winner with 1,019,602 votes, while Nasiru Gawuna from the APC got 890,705 votes. This made Yusuf’s win seem secure, with a lead of 128,897 votes.

The APC’s Complaint

However, the APC wasn’t satisfied and thought something was wrong. They complained about the election by going to the Kano State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal. They said there were problems during the voting, and they also questioned whether Governor Yusuf should have been allowed to run for the election in the first place.

The Tribunal’s Decision

A group of judges at the tribunal, led by Oluyemi Asadebay, made a big decision. They said that a massive 165,663 votes for NNPP were not okay because the ballot papers weren’t signed or stamped, which is against the rules. They also agreed with the APC’s argument that the election didn’t follow the Electoral Act of 2022, which is a law for how elections should be done.

So, they decided to take away these 165,663 votes from Governor Yusuf’s total votes. That made Nasiru Gawuna the new winner of the election.

The NNPP Membership Issue

Another problem the tribunal looked at was whether Governor Abba Kabiru Yusuf was even a member of NNPP before he ran for the election. They said he didn’t follow the right steps to join the NNPP, and that meant he couldn’t be in the race.

To back up their claim, the lawyer for the APC, Mr. Fagge, showed a document from INEC, the election body, which didn’t have Governor Yusuf’s name on NNPP’s membership list. The lawyer explained that the law says you must be in a political party before running for an election. The Electoral Act of 2022 says all political parties must show their membership list to INEC at least 30 days before their primary election.

Governor Yusuf’s Case Falls Apart

Mr. Fagge, the APC’s lawyer, also didn’t believe another list NNPP presented. He said this list was updated too late, after the APC had already complained. According to him, this list didn’t follow the rules and INEC’s standards.

Invalid Ballot Papers

Another problem for Governor Yusuf was that the APC showed that over 270,000 ballot papers had votes for NNPP. But these papers, even though INEC certified them, didn’t have signatures, stamps, or dates, which made them invalid according to the tribunal.

Conclusion

The Kano State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal’s decision to remove Governor Abba Kabiru Yusuf and declare Nasiru Gawuna from the APC as the rightful winner was a big deal. The reasons behind this decision, like taking away a lot of votes and saying Governor Yusuf wasn’t a real NNPP member, have caused discussions and debates across Nigeria.

As things calm down and Kano State gets ready for Nasiru Gawuna as the new governor, people will keep talking about what happened. This story teaches us how important it is to follow the rules and laws in elections.