From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The Abuja division of the Court of Appeal has overturned the judgment of the Federal High Court in Kano that voided the composition of the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KASIEC) and the local government elections conducted on October 26, 2024.
A three-member panel of the appellate court led by Justice Biobele Abraham Georgewill unanimously held that the trial court lacked the jurisdiction to adjudicate on matters bordering on the composition of states’ electoral bodies and the qualification of members of the same.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) had instituted a suit before the Kano division of the Federal High Court, seeking to stop the elections based on allegations that the chairman of the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission, Prof. Sani Malumfashi along with some commissioners, were card-carrying members of the ruling NNPP.
In his judgment, Justice Simon Amobeda ruled in their favor and ordered a halt to the polls but the elections were conducted regardless.
However, the Court of Appeal, in its judgment on Friday, allowed the three appeals filed by the Kano State Attorney General, the Kano State House of Assembly, and KASIEC and struck out the suits filed before the Federal High Court (from which the judgment was derived) for want of jurisdiction.
It said the proper court with the required jurisdiction is the High Court of Kano State.
In its fourth judgment on Friday, the Court of Appeal also reversed another judgment delivered by the same Federal High Court in Kano rejecting the list of candidates submitted to KANSIEC by the Musa Kwakwanso faction of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) for the last local government election in Kano State.
The court held that the subject of the case, which related to the leadership dispute in NNPP and which list of candidates submitted by two factions of the party was authentic, was outside the jurisdiction of the court.
It added that issues of party leadership and candidates’ nomination were not justiciable.