The Supreme Court has deferred its judgment in the Kano State governorship election dispute, pitting Abba Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and Nasiru Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The Election Petition Tribunal had ousted Yusuf after deducting 165,000 unsigned ballot papers from his votes in the March 18 governorship election, following the All Progressives Congress’ allegations of electoral malpractice.
Yusuf, contesting the tribunal’s decision, appealed to the Court of Appeal, which, sitting in Abuja, dismissed the appeal filed by the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) candidate. The tribunal declared Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna of the APC as the winner, adding a layer of complexity with a clerical error in the certified true copy of the judgment.
To rectify this, Yusuf approached the Supreme Court, seeking to overturn the decisions of the lower courts. Wole Olanipekun, representing Yusuf, appealed to the Supreme Court to set aside the decisions of the Appeal Court and tribunal.
Olanipekun questioned whether INEC guidelines should serve as a basis for nullifying the election victory, emphasizing that the issue of unsigned ballot papers is unprecedented in electoral jurisprudence.
Olanipekun argued that the appellant’s membership of NNPP is a pre-election matter, asserting its authenticity and challenging the appellate court’s jurisdiction over the matter. He contended that nullifying an election due to unsigned or unstamped ballot papers goes beyond INEC guidelines.
During the proceedings, Justice Inyang Okoro queried Olanipekun on whether the ballots were illegal, to which Olanipekun clarified that they were not illegal, having been issued by INEC officials.
On the opposing side, Chief Akin Olujimi, representing the APC, emphasized that the Electoral Act mandates INEC presiding officers to sign the back of ballot papers. However, he clarified that the tribunal’s findings were solely based on the absence of signatures at the back, not on the legality of the ballots.
Counsel for the NNPP, Adegboyega Awomolo , said ballot papers were actually cast at the polling units but the APC legal team did not specify the polling units affected at the Tribunal in line with rules of court.
Awomoloadded that not a single witness told the tribunal that ballot papers were not stamped, and urged the apex court to restore the 165,165 cancelled votes of Abba Yusuf and affirm his election.
After hearing parties, the apex court reserved its judgment on the governor’s appeal.
