The Kano Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has made a landmark ruling, nullifying the election of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf and declaring the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the rightful winner of the March 18 election.
Yusuf, who contested on the platform of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), had initially been declared the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
This declaration led to congratulatory messages, including one from Nasir Gawuna, his APC rival. However, the APC remained resolute and pursued the matter in court.
On Wednesday, a three-man panel presiding over the case ordered the withdrawal of the certificate of return that INEC had presented to Governor Yusuf.
The tribunal directed the issuance of a certificate of return to Nasir Gawuna.
The tribunal’s judgment was based on a deduction of 165,663 votes from Governor Yusuf’s total vote count, deeming these ballots as invalid.
The reason behind this invalidation was that the ballot papers in question, numbering 165,663, lacked the required stamps or signatures, rendering them ineligible in the electoral process.