"Kano NNPP candidate scored 178,374, not guber poll winner": APC tells tribunal

LEGIT NG

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano state, has said the governor-elect of the state, Abba Kabir Yusuf of the New Nigeria People Party (NNPP) should not have been declared winner of the 2023 governorship election in the state. 

The party prayed the court to sack Yusuf as the governor-elect of Kano because he only garnered 178,374 votes in the last governorship election in the state and should not have been declared the winner. 

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had earlier declared Yusuf as the winner of the March 18, 2023 governorship election in the state.

INEC in its declaration confirmed that the NNPP candidate scored a total of 1,019,602 votes while Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna of the current ruling party scored 890,705.

However, in its petition before the 2023 Kano state governorship election tribunal, the APC submitted that the NNPP and its candidate had 896,022 unlawful votes during the election.

According to the APC, subtracting 896,022 votes from the 1,019,602 will leave Yusuf with 178,374 votes.

The party alleged that unlawful ballot papers that did not have the signature, stamp and date of the election were used in casting votes for the second Respondent.

It noted that the unlawful ballot papers without signatures, stamps and dates were used in 32 local government areas of the state during the conduct of the election.

The petition read in part:

“The second Respondent (Yusuf) was not duly elected by a majority of lawful votes cast at the election.”Your petitioner repeats paragraphs 1 – 83 of the Petition herein in support of the ground of the Petition that the 2nd Respondent was not elected by a majority of lawful votes cast at the election.”Your petitioner says further that in the election to the Office of Governor of Kano held on the 18th March 2023 unlawful ballot papers that did not have the signature stamp and date of the election were used in casting votes for the 2nd Respondent in all the polling units in the underlisted Local Government Areas.”Your Petitioner says that the votes cast for the 2nd Respondent tainted by these unlawful ballot papers are the following:”The Petitioners hereby gives notice to the 1st Respondent to recount the ballot papers in the course of trial of the affected Local Government Areas in Kano Stated pleaded above.