The Court of Appeal in Abuja has reserved its judgment in the appeal filed by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State challenging his removal by the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal.
Olanipekun, a senior lawyer, contested the ruling on ballot papers, stating that it was unprecedented in history for a tribunal to annul an election over the non-signing of the back of ballot papers.
He argued that the tribunal had erred, pointing out that this case marked the first instance where a political party filed a matter without joining its candidate as a party in the petition, and yet the candidate was declared the winner of the polls.
In response, Akin Olujimi, the Counsel for the All Progressives Congress (APC), countered Olanipekun’s argument. Olujimi stated that the appeal court had clearly affirmed that the non-signing of ballots constituted electoral malpractice.
He highlighted that the regulations laid out by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) required presiding officers to sign and date the back of ballot papers.
Following these arguments, the appeal court panel decided to reserve judgment, indicating that the parties involved would be informed of the date of the judgment.
The three-member panel of judges, led by Justice Oluyemi Osadebay, had earlier nullified 165,663 of Governor Yusuf’s votes on September 20, 2023, as they were not signed or stamped by INEC.
Consequently, the governor’s total votes were reduced to 853,939, while his opponent, Ganuwa, retained his 890,705 votes.
Governor Yusuf had expressed his dissatisfaction with the tribunal’s verdict, labeling it as unfair and a miscarriage of justice, leading him to appeal the decision in the Court of Appeal.
