The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has sacked Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State.

The panel upheld the verdict of the tribunal led by Justice Oluyemi Akintan Osadebay which sacked Yusuf on September 20, 2023.

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The lower court had declared 165,663 votes of Yusuf, who contested under the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), invalid on the grounds that they were not signed or stamped by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The governor’s votes were then reduced to 853,939 while those of Nasir Ganuwa, his All Progressives Congress (APC) rival, remained at 890,705.

Yusuf had rejected the tribunal verdict, which he described as “unfair” and “a miscarriage of justice”, and headed to the appeal court.

At the court, Wole Olanipekun, SAN, lead for Yusuf, asked that the judgement of the tribunal be set aside.

Kicking against the ruling on ballot papers, the senior lawyer said that was the first time in the history that a tribunal would annul an election over non-signing of the back of ballot papers.

He had said the tribunal erred, arguing further that, that was the first time that a political party would file a matter without joining its candidate as a party in the petition and the candidate would declared winner of the polls.

But Akin Olujimi SAN, counsel for APC, countered him saying the Appeal Court stated emphatically that the non-signing of ballots amounted to electoral malpractice.

In its ruling on Friday, the Appeal Court held that Yusuf was not eligible to contest the election because he was not a member of the NNPP.

The Taraba House of Assembly on Thursday passed the local government elected officials’ amendment Bill which reduced the tenure of officials to two years.

Nelson Len, the Chairman, House Committee on Information, made this known while speaking to newsmen in Jalingo.

Len noted that the bill, after all due processes required of by the House, was passed into law to enable the new set of local government officials expected to be elected on Nov. 18, to be bound by the amended law. (NAN)

The Labour Party (LP) and the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) have said there are no merger plans between them and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

The spokesman of LP, Obiora Ifoh, on Thursday in a statement, said such reports were mere sensation and should be disregarded by Nigerians.

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“In my reaction (to enquiry from a journalist), I said that it was only a proposal and every Nigerian should be interested in making democracy work in Nigeria and that what we have presently is an autocracy. There was nowhere in the response that the purported merger between LP and PDP was mentioned,” Ifoh said.

Similarly, the National Publicity Secretary of the NNPP, AbdulRazaq AbdulSalam, in a statement said “NNPP is an independent political group as such we stand firm in our commitment to respect all political parties and refuse to engage in merging with any party to combat another.”

The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Thursday voided the election of Dauda Lawal as the governor of Zamfara State.

A three-member panel of justices led by Justice Omoloye Jombo-Ojo on ordered a rerun of the election in three local governments of Birnin Magaji, Bukuyyum and Maradun.

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In the lead judgment delivered by Justice Sybil Nwaka Gbagi, the appellate court faulted the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s use of IREV for the collation of results when the Supreme Court had ruled that it is not a result collation system but only for public viewing.

The panel unanimously upheld four out of the seven issues for the determination in the appeal brought by the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the election, Bello Matawalle.

“I hereby declare that the governorship election of 18th of March, 2023 is inconclusive.

“That the return of the first respondent (Lawal) by the third respondent (INEC) is hereby set aside.

“The third respondent (INEC) is hereby directed to hold fresh elections in Maradun Local Government Area and the affected polling units in Birnin Magaji and Bukuyyum local government areas. This is the judgment of this honourable court,” the court held.

Matawalle and the APC had filed the petition following INEC’s declaration of Lawal of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the election with 377,726 votes as against Matawalle, who polled 311,976 votes.

Matawalle, who was former governor of Zamfara State and current Minister of State for Defence, had contended that election did not hold in many polling units in the three local governments, including 98,506 votes in Maradun, were not counted.

He contended that Lawal was not duly elected by a majority of the lawful votes cast in the election and that the conduct was not in compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.

But the Zamfara State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal dismissed the petition.

Efforts to speak to the Zamfara governor and those closed to him to hear about their next line of action were not successful.

The Court Of Appeal has fixed today for judgments in the appeals emanating from the election petitions tribunal of Kano and Bauchi state.

For Kano, the court will rule on the appeals filed by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, his party the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) and INEC challenging the judgment of the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, which had removed the governor.

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The appellate court, in a hearing notice communicated the date for the judgment to the parties on Thursday.

Recall that a three-man panel of judges led by Justice Oluyemi Akintan-Osadebay sacked Yusuf on September 20, by declaring 165,663 of his votes invalid because they were not signed or stamped by the INEC.

The governor’s votes were then reduced to 853,939 while those of Nasir Gawuna, his APC rival, remained at 890,705.

Yusuf had rejected the tribunal verdict, which he described as “unfair” and “a miscarriage of justice”, and headed to the appeal court.

At the court, Wole Olanipekun (SAN) counsel for Yusuf, asked that the judgement of the tribunal be set aside. He said this is the first time in history that a tribunal would annul an election over non-signing of the back of ballot papers.

He also said the tribunal erred, arguing that, that was the first time that a political party would file a matter without joining its candidate as a party in the petition and the candidate would be declared winner of the polls.

But Akin Olujimi (SAN), counsel for APC, countered saying the Appeal Court stated emphatically that the non-signing of ballots amounted to electoral malpractice.

The appellate court had after the hearing reserved judgement.

For Bauchi State, the APC and its governorship candidate, former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, had challenged the judgment of the election petition tribunal, which affirmed the re-election of Bala Muhammad of the PDP.

There was an uneasy calm in the Kano metropolitan area on Thursday following the announcement of Friday as the day of the judgment in the governorship polls.

Resident’s feared violence may break out if the appeal court affirms the decision of the tribunal that sacked the NNPP-led government.

This kick-started panic buying in several markets and stores with residents preparing for a situation where they would be unable to go out of their homes for a few days.

Residents by foot and on vehicles were seen flooding business environments to get one thing or the other for their daily upkeep for at least two or more days. Many of those spoken to by our reporters said they had to make the purchases to avoid a situation where they and their families would be stranded.

A businessman at Kwari market, Yunusa Abdullah said, “We are praying for things to go easily without any issue but for me, I will not even come to the market because you can never tell what will happen.

“I wonder why all this, now, everybody will go to sleep with this in their minds thinking. You will see by tomorrow (today), all busy streets will be relatively empty. Everybody will sit at home because we have seen what happened when the Tribunal gave its verdict.”

Another businessman, Usman Bello said, “We will not come out to the market tomorrow, you see, they will definitely cheat us as we would not be able to come out and get our daily bread.”

Meanwhile, the NNPP and APC have signed a pact with the Kano State Police Command to maintain peace before, during and after the governorship election appeal verdict.

The peace pact was signed on behalf of the NNPP by Wada Ibrahim, its Vice Chairman while Ibrahim Zakari Sarina, the APC secretary, represented the opposition party.

Briefing journalists after the peace accord signing, the state Commissioner of Police, CP Usaini Gumel said the force has drawn up modalities that would promote peace and harmony in the state before, during and after the governorship appeal verdict.

Gumel, who spoke in company of other heads of security agencies, said the peace deal signed by the two parties include: “No politically motivated clusters of people would be allowed at any location under whatever guise; that, their supporters would not engage in any mass action suggesting preparation for violent procession, protests or celebrations that may trigger reactions; That, unguarded statements from their members likely to increase political tension or undermine the security arrangements and sanctity of the Judiciary would be avoided.”

Other conditions in the deal are: “That, their parties will support all the arrangements put in place by the security apparatus to maintain peace and order, and that, any person or group of persons directly or indirectly found disrupting the peace before, during and after the appeal judgment shall face the full wrath of the law.”

The Bauchi State Police Command had also warned political party supporters against wild jubilations or any violent reactions after the judgement, saying blockage of roads, fireworks and inciting utterances or blackmail against the opposition party would not be condoned.

The spokesman for the command, SP Mohammad Wakil, in a statement said, “The Command will not dawdle to decisively deal with any persons or groups who violate this order or deliberately cause the breakdown of law and order in whatever manner.

“Those in violation will be arrested and made to face the full wrath of the law as security agencies have been deployed strategically and directed to ensure full enforcement.”

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Douye Diri, as the winner of the Bayelsa State governorship election held on Saturday, November 11.

The state’s Returning Officer of the commission, Prof. Faruq Kuta announced Diri after receiving the final result from Southern Ijaw out of eight Local Government Area of the state.

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While the PDP candidate scored 175, 196 votes, the APC candidate, Sylva got 110, 108, giving the incumbent an edge of 65, 088 votes to secure his second tenure in office.

The incumbent Governor, Diri won the election in six of the eight LGAs of the state, while his closest challenger and candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timipre Sylva, won only two of the LGAs.

The LGAs Diri won include Kolokuma/Opokuma, Ogbia, Yenegoa, Sagbama, Ekeremor and Southern Ijaw, Sylva was able to clinch Nembe and Brass.

Governor Duoye Diri of Bayelsa State is leading with over 60,000 votes in the ongoing election.

Diri, who is seeking reelection, contested under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

After the result of Southern Ijaw was declared, the margin between Diri and his closest challenger, Timipre Sylva of the All Progressives Congress (APC), climbed to 65,088.

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Diri polled a total of 175,196 votes while Sylva trailed with 110,108 votes.

Officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are putting famishing touches to the exercise at the collation center in Yenagoa, the state capital.

The 10th Senate has assured that it will reconsider the Diaspora Voting Bill this week.

The Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele (APC-Ekiti), made this known during a virtual dialogue organised by Engage Diaspora Foundation in collaboration with the Directorate of Diaspora and International Affairs of his office.

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The dialogue was themed: “A Pivotal Step Toward Achieving Diaspora Voting Right.”

Recall that the 9th Senate had in March 2022, rejected the bill on diaspora voting.

The bill had sought to amend the 1999 Constitution to allow Nigerians living outside the country to participate in the electoral process of voting and be voted for.

“Nigerian citizens in diaspora have shown tremendous interest in participating in the electoral process; they make considerable contributions to the economy through huge financial remittances to the country.

“Diaspora voting is consistent with global best practices,” he said.

In his presentation, Bamidele who was the Chief Host/Chief Speaker at the event, assured Nigerians in Diaspora that the 10th Senate would put in more efforts to pass the bill this time around.

He said, “We will do our best to make sure that this time around, we achieve your desire in this regard.

“When you talk about diaspora voting, it is a right; if anybody is granting you that right, it is not as if they are grating you any favour. It is your right.

“The essence of this fight is just to make sure that the right is recognised in our constitution because the constitution is the basis upon which every other thing rests.

“The constitution is the operational manual for both the government and the governed in our country. It is a right that must be recognised by our law as enshrined in the constitution.

“Whatever I’m doing with you is not new. I’m trying to build on the effort, genuine effort, people had built in the past and which they are still making.”

The lawmaker further said the bill was already on the floor of the senate, “and exactly two Tuesdays ago, we had a first reading of the Diaspora Voting Bill.

“It passed the first reading and it was scheduled for the second.

“Definitely, I can assure you as the leader of the senate, we will be considering the second reading of the bill during this week,” he said.

According to him, when that is done, the bill will be referred to the Constitution Review Committee because the committee is chaired by the Deputy President of the Senate and the Vice Chairman is the Leader of the Senate.

“We are a part of your movement in this regard and then you can be rest assured, even anyone trying to convince me on the need to pass this bill, will need to be converted.

“I’m very much with you in this effort because I see this fight as a generational fight.

“It’s not just the constitution recognising your right to vote in the diaspora, your children and grandchildren and generations coming after us.

“It is also about ensuring greater inclusion in our process. We can not just be so interested in the benefits coming from the Nigeria Diaspora community while also denying what is supposed to be your own constitutional right,” he said.

The Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, will on Tuesday resume hearing on the appeal file by the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Sokoto state, Sai’du Umar, against Governor Ahmed Aliyu of the All Progressive Congress.

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Recalled that the three-man Election’s Petitions Tribunal led by Justice Haruna Msheila, in a unanimous judgment delivered on September 30, this year, dismissed the petitions of the PDP, saying the petitioners failed to prove the six grounds formulated in the petition.

He said the grounds bordered on alleged ineligibility for Aliyu and Gobir to contest, falsification of certificates, variation of names, election frauds and non-compliance with electoral guidelines.

He said Petitioners were unable to prove the allegations beyond reasonable double as required by law as 70 per cent of exhibits were out of context because they relate to state assembly elections conducted on the same dates.

According to him, to prove the forgery of two different documents of persons needed to be presented while the variation of names issues was a settled supreme court provision.

He said three subpoena witnesses were not tenable as they were not makers of the documents from the alleged primary school, while the other 28 polling units’ agenda testified could not be produced identify themselves along with their roles.

The Tribunal Chairman said the alleged 138 polling units frauds were not adduced to indicate substantial non-compliance of the elections have marred the election outcome.

Confirming the notice of appeal, the special adviser on media and publicity to the PDP governorship candidate in the March 18 governorship election, Nafiu Lema, while speaking with our correspondent on the telephone.