- The ruling was contrary to the opinion of the lower Election Petition Tribunal, which ruled that the court lacked the jurisdiction to determine the membership of a party.
- Yusuf’s supporters, in hundreds, staged a protest in the metropolis against the appeal court’s judgment.
Abba Yusuf, the governor of Kano State, appealed his dismissal by the Court of Appeal last week in a Supreme Court filing on Wednesday.
The New Nigeria Peoples Party included the All Progressives Congress and the Independent National Electoral Commission as respondents in its notice of appeal.
The documents requested three reliefs from the Supreme Court, listing ten grounds of appeal against the appellate court’s judgement: “An order granting the appeal and reversing the Court of Appeal’s November 17, 2023 verdict.”
“An order upholding the portion of the judgment of the Court of Appeal setting aside the judgment of the trial tribunal in petition No: EPT/RV/GOV/11/2023 and making an order as costs in favour of the appellant.
Such further orders as this honourable court may deem appropriate in the circumstances of the appeal.”
Last week, the Court of Appeal nullified the election of Yusuf by declaring that the non-inclusion of his name in the register of his party held by INEC violated Section 177 (c) of the 1999 Constitution, which required a candidate vying for a governorship position to be a member of a political party.
The ruling was contrary to the opinion of the lower Election Petition Tribunal, which ruled that the court lacked the jurisdiction to determine the membership of a party.
The Appeal Court sacked the governor and declared his opponent, Nasiru Gawuna of APC as the duly elected governor.
In a similar development, Yusuf’s supporters in their hundreds staged a protest in some streets within the metropolis condemning the judgment of the appeal court.