Kano Guber: Yusuf Pledge To Retain Mandate

The decision of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal to nullify the election of Gov. Abba Yusuf of Kano State and declare his opponent the winner has been challenged by the Governor.

Earlier this week, the tribunal ruled that Dr Nasiru Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress was the legitimate victor of the March 18 governorship election.

The tribunal’s decision was called “unfair” and “a miscarriage of justice” by Yusuf, who ran under the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) flag.

He asked his followers to maintain their composure and vowed to appeal the verdict.

“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.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was directed to remove the certificate of return it had given to Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in the judgment delivered through Zoom by the three-person panel headed by Justice Oluyemi Akintan-Osadebay.

The tribunal also asked the electoral body to issue a certificate of return to Gawuna.

It stated that a total of 165,663 ballot papers from the governor’s votes were not stamped and ruled illegitimate as the reason Yusuf was dismissed.

As a result, 165,663 of Yusuf’s votes were taken away as invalid, and Gawuna was declared the candidate who won the election in March.

The decision was rendered several weeks after August 21st when the closing arguments for each party’s clients were presented by their attorneys.