The All Progressives Congress in Kano State has filed a petition before a Kano Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, contesting Independent National Electoral Commission for pronouncing Abba Kabir Yusuf of New Nigeria People’s Party victor of the March 18, 2023 governorship race.
In a five-volume petition filed by APC, the petitioner is contending that Yusuf was not qualified to contest the election on the ground that his name was not in the list of members of NNPP given to INEC.
The petitioner further stated that NNPP didn’t win the election with the majority of legitimate votes, stating that part of the votes cast for them were invalid and if eliminated from their scores, APC will have the greatest number of votes cast.
In the appeal, APC also stated that the Kano Resident Electoral Commissioner was mistaken for pronouncing Yusuf the winner, stating that the margin of lead is not more than the votes voided and that the race ought to be declared inconclusive.
The petitioner is requesting the Tribunal to rule that NNPP has no candidate as Yusuf is not in their register of voters presented to INEC at the time of the election.
The APC requested that Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna be declared the winner or, if the illegitimate votes are subtracted from the NNPP’s legitimate vote totals, that the APC be declared the election’s victor with the highest vote total.
The petitioner is similarly requesting to the Tribunal in the alternative to declare the election as inconclusive, arguing that the margin of lead is not more than the votes annulled.
It was gathered that the governorship candidate of APC was not joined as a party in the petition, as this may not be unconnected with his attitude of admitting defeat.
The parties involved in the petition are APC as the petitioner, NNPP, Yusuf and INEC as 1st, 2nd and 3rd Respondents accordingly.
According to the norm of the Tribunal, the respondents have 21 days to answer to the petition after court proceedings are served on them.
