Judiciary Could Have Set The Country On Fire, Reactions ToS’court Ruling On Kano

Social media users have reacted differently to the decision of the Supreme Court to set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja which nullified the election of Governor Kabir Yusuf of Kano State.

A five-member panel of justices on Friday unanimously held that the lower court misunderstood the import of the purported deduction of 165,616 ballot papers in favour of Governor Yusuf.

The lead judgment by Justice Inyang Okoro also held that the issue of Governor Yusuf’s membership was a pre-election matter.

He said the finding that by the virtue of Section 177(c) of the Nigerian Constitution and Section 134(1) of the Electoral Act, Governor Yusuf was not sponsored by the NNPP, was not a finding of the electoral tribunal but a mere observation that his name was not contained in the membership list.

“This court has consistently maintained that the issue of nomination or sponsorship of a candidate for an election is completely an exclusive prerogative of the political party,” he held.

Meanwhile, this has elicited mixed reactions from Nigerians on social media platforms.

One Ogechukwu Chime said: “APC/Judiciary could have set the country on fire starting from kano, but they got wise counsel this time.”

Daily Trust reports that the Supreme Court had on December 21, 2023 reserved judgment after hearing the appeals.

In March 2023, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Yusuf as the winner of the Kano governorship election.

The Kano governor scored 1,019,602 votes to defeat Yusuf Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who polled 890,705 votes.

In September, the Kano governorship election petition tribunal sacked Yusuf as governor of the state.

The tribunal deducted 165,663 votes from the 1,019,602 recorded for Yusuf because the ballot papers were not stamped, signed and dated as required by law.

The tribunal then declared Gawuna as the winner of the election.

The NNPP and its candidate, displeased by the verdict challenged the judgment at the appellate court.

On November 17, 2023, the court of appeal upheld the tribunal’s verdict and added that Yusuf was not a member of the NNPP when he contested the election.

However, controversy trailed the verdict days later when a certified true copy (CTC) of the appeal court judgment surfaced, contradicting the November 17 ruling.

The copy of the judgment ruled against and in favour of the NNPP candidate simultaneously, eliciting outrage on social media platforms and the streets.

The appeal court issued a statement blaming “clerical error” for the contradictions or discrepancies.