Gov Yusuf Sacked by Court of Appeal: APC, NNPP's Fate at Supreme Court Predicted

• Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano may be having a staggering fate at the Supreme Court in the appeal against his sacking by the Court of Appeal, according to a lawyer, Ismail Balogun
• Balogun told Legit.ng that the ground of the Court of Appeal was suspicious but maintained that the Supreme Court rarely dismissed two concurrent judgments of the lower courts
• The Court of Appeal and the Tribunal have sacked Yusuf as Kano governor on different grounds and declared Nasir Yusuf Gawuna of the APC as the winner of the 2023 governorship election

Bada Yusuf is an accomplished politics and current affairs editor, boasting over seven years of experience in journalism and writing.

Since the Court of Appeal in Abuja has sacked Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano state, there have been controversies over the appellate court's verdict.

Read also

APC beautifies Kano secretariat ahead of Supreme Court judgement on Abba Yusuf’s sack

The Court of Appeal sacked the governor on the credibility of his nomination by the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), a position that Ismail Balogun, a legal practitioner, considered "a suspect".

Balogun is a legal practitioner who spoke with Legit.ng posited that the fate of the embattled governor at the Supreme Court is uncertain, adding that the apex court rarely dismissed "two concurring judgments of the lower Courts" except otherwise.

Why tribunal sacked Governor Yusuf of Kano

Before his sack by the Court of Appeal, Governor Yusuf was earlier sacked by the Kano state governorship election petition tribunal after it removed a large number of invalid votes from the votes gathered by the NNPP candidate in the March 18 governorship election in the state.

Read also

Islamic clerics to Supreme Court: Retrieve ‘stolen’ mandate from NNPP in Kano

The trial court removed 165,663 votes of Governor Yusuf, stating that the ballot papers were neither signed nor stamped by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

After his invalid votes, the court found Nasir Yusuf Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to have the highest number of votes and declared him the election winner.

The court then ordered INEC to withdraw the certificate of return issued to Governor Yusuf and issue a fresh one to Gawuna of the APC.

Lawyer predicts uncertainty for Governor Yusuf at Supreme Court

Reacting to the judgment while speaking with Legit.ng, the legal icon foresaw uncertainty for the NNPP governor over the judgments being challenged at the Supreme Court.

He said:

In my mind, the probability of success at the Supreme Court is shrouded in the web of uncertainty. This is because he is now dealing with two concurring judgments of the lower Courts, and the Supreme Court rarely overturns concurring judgments unless the same is perverse or there was a miscarriage of justice.

Read also

Kano Governor Yusuf suspends hospital guards over negligence

However, the decision of the Court of Appeal on sponsorship of the Kano Governor by the NNPP is a suspect. One will question the correctness of such a pronouncement, given that the issue of nomination and sponsorship of candidates is an internal affair of a political party and, thus, a pre-election matter over which both the Governorship Election Tribunal and the Court of Appeal lack jurisdiction. In any event, we should wait for what the Supreme Court has to say on the issues presented.

Court of Appeal verdict: NNPP disowns sacked Governor Yusuf

Legit.ng earlier reported that Governor Yusuf of Kano may be finding it difficult to secure victory at the Supreme Court after being sacked by the Court of Appeal.

The NNPP has said that the appellate court's ruling that the governor was not a registered party member stemmed from Rabiu Kwankwaso's high-handedness.

Agbo Major, the national chairman of the NNPP, alleged that Kwankwaso did not allow some members of the party, including the governor, to register as stipulated in the constitution.

Source: Legit.ng