Tribunal Sacks NNPP’s Abba Kabir As Kano Governor 

The Kano Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has overturned the victory of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf and declared Nasiru Gawuna, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, as the rightful winner of the March 18 election.

Governor Yusuf, who ran under the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), had been initially declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in March. However, following petitions and subsequent hearings, the three-member tribunal ordered the withdrawal of Yusuf’s certificate of return and directed INEC to issue a certificate of return to Gawuna.

The tribunal invalidated 165,663 votes from Yusuf’s total, deeming them as invalid due to lack of stamping or signing on the affected ballot papers. This ruling comes six months after the APC candidate had graciously accepted defeat and acknowledged Yusuf’s victory following INEC’s issuance of the certificate of return to the NNPP candidate.