The Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, on Friday, sacked Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf.
However, it upheld the election of his Bauchi State’s counterpart, Bala Mohammed.
Yusuf of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) was declared the winner by the Independent National Electronic Electoral Commission (INEC) with 1,019,602 votes, surpassing Nasiru Gawuna’s 890,705 votes.
However, the All Progressives Congress (APC) took the outcome of the March 18, 2023 election to the Tribunal, alleging electoral malpractice.
Subsequently, a three-man panel, including Justice Oluyemi Akintan Osadebay, along with two other judges, removed Yusuf from office on September 20, 2023, after declaring 165,663 of his votes invalid due to the lack of signatures or stamps from the Independent National Electoral Commission.
As a result, the governor’s votes were reduced to 853,939, while Gawuna’s 890,705 votes remained.
Yusuf rejected the Tribunal’s decision, calling it “unfair” and “a miscarriage of justice,” and appealed the ruling.
Home News Appeal Court upholds Bauchi gov’s election
On the other hand, the court upheld the election of Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State.
The appellate court dismissed the appeal filed by former Chief of Air Staff and All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, AVM Sadique Abubakar (retd), challenging the governor’s election.
The three-man panel on Friday unanimously held that Abubakar’s appeal lacked merit.
Justice Chidiebere Nwaoma Uwa, in the lead judgment, held that the appellants – Abubakar and the APC – failed to prove the allegations of malpractices and non-compliance with the Electoral Act, 2022 against Governor Mohammed and the PDP.
