Gov. Abba Yusuf of Kano State has rejected the ruling of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal that voided his election and declared his opponent the winner.
Recall the tribunal on Wednesday declared Dr Nasiru Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress as the rightful winner of the March 18 governorship election.
Yusuf, who contested on the banner of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), described the tribunal’s verdict as “unfair” and “a miscarriage of justice”.
He vowed to appeal against the judgement, and urged his supporters to remain calm.
“I call on our people to remain calm. We will appeal the judgement and we are sure justice will be done.
“Let our people be reassured that we will do everything possible to retain this widely acclaimed mandate”, he added.
In the judgment delivered via Zoom, the three-man panel led by Justice Oluyemi Akintan-Osadebay ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withdraw the certificate of return that it presented to Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).
The tribunal also asked the electoral body to issue a certificate of return to Gawuna.
Stating the reason why Yusuf was sacked, the tribunal said that a total of 165,663 ballot papers from the governor’s votes were not stamped and declared invalid.
It, then, deducted 165,663 votes from Yusuf as invalid, which made Gawuna to be declared the winner of the election in March.
The ruling came weeks after lawyers of both parties made their closing arguments on behalf of their clients on 21 August.
