Kano Gov Begs Supporters To Pray, Fast As Supreme Court Hears Appeal On Sacking Thursday

Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf has appealed to his supporters to pray and fast ahead of a Supreme Court hearing that will determine his political fate.

The hearing, scheduled for Thursday, will rule on appeals related to the disputed March 2023 governorship election.

Both the election tribunal and appeal court previously nullified Yusuf’s victory.

The governor’s Director-General, Media and Publicity, Sanusi Bature Dawakin, urged “Kwankwasiyya” supporters to intercede spiritually on his principal’s behalf.

He wrote via Facebook on Wednesday, “Peace be upon you brothers and sisters of Kwankwasiyya, supporters of Kano Governor H.E. Abba Kabir Yusuf inside and outside Kano.

“We are requesting those who are right to fast tomorrow Thursday and pray for God to help us on the case ahead of us that will start tomorrow. Thank you, may God keep us together.”

THE WHISTLER reports that in September 2023, the tribunal nullified Yusuf’s election, citing over 160,000 invalid votes due to missing signatures and stamps on the ballot papers.

The APC had challenged the election outcome at the Tribunal, alleging electoral malpractice.

Yusuf, however, appealed the tribunal’s decision to the Court of Appeal.

But the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja dismissed the appeal filed by the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) candidate against the judgment of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal which declared the All Progressive Congress (APC) flagbearer, Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna, as the winner of the state’s governorship poll held on March 18.

In November 2023, the Court of Appeal upheld the tribunal’s ruling and further disqualified Yusuf for failing to submit his NNPP membership register to INEC.

However, a discrepancy arose between the judgment read in court and the certified true copy (CTC) of the judgment recieved by the governor’s legal team led by Wole Olanipekun, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

The Court of Appeal acknowledged a clerical error in the CTC of its judgment and promised correction.

But NNPP appealed to the Supreme Court, claiming that the CTC upheld Yusuf’s election.

The governor’s legal team maintained that its client’s membership of the NNPP is a pre-election matter and authentic and that the tribunal and appellate court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the matter.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) also filed a cross appeal at the Supreme Court of Nigeria, alleging that Governor Yusuf’s supposed forgery of his academic qualifications disqualifies him from holding the Kano State governorship position.

They argue that the lower court erred by not declaring the Form EC9 to be containing a forged certificate, which they said was crucial to final determination of the case.