By Milcah Tanimu
Kano State experienced bewilderment on Tuesday as a Certified True Copy (CTC) of the Court of Appeal’s judgment on the state’s gubernatorial election surfaced, further muddling the already disputed outcome.
Contrary to the widely publicized ruling last Friday, which seemingly affirmed the Court of Appeal’s support for the petition tribunal’s decision to unseat Governor Abba Yusuf, the State’s Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Haruna Isa-Dederi, asserted that the CTC of the judgment validated Yusuf’s victory at the polls.
During a press conference on Tuesday night, Isa-Dederi revealed that, according to the written judgment, the Court of Appeal set aside the Kano Election Petition Tribunal’s ruling, deeming it lacking in merit.
“Page 67 of the released Certified True Copy of the Appeal Court judgment, signed by Registrar Jameel Ibrahim Umar, clearly upholds the victory of Abba Kabiru Yusuf as the duly elected Governor of Kano,” Isa-Dederi stated.
The confusion deepened as it was observed that the CTC contained apparent inconsistencies in its conclusions. Despite the lead judgment by Justice Moore Adumein favoring Yusuf, the judge’s final declaration also seemed to uphold the tribunal’s decision to dismiss the appeal, creating a contradictory narrative.
In the midst of this confusion, it was discovered that the Court of Appeal, on November 17, 2023, dismissed Governor Yusuf’s appeal based on his membership status and declared Nasiru Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress as the winner of the March 25, 2023, governorship election in Kano State.
Isa-Dederi emphasized that the written evidence in the CTC vindicated Yusuf as the legitimate governor, challenging the public perception created by the justices’ statements in the courtroom on November 17.
The discrepancies in the judgment were particularly evident in Justice Adumein’s statement, “I find no merit in this appeal which is liable to be and is hereby dismissed,” juxtaposed with the resolution that set aside the tribunal’s decision and awarded costs in favor of Governor Yusuf.
This perplexing situation was compounded by the agreement of the two other justices on the appeal court panel, Justice Bitrus Sanga and Justice Lateef Ganiyu, with the lead judgment.
