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From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The Supreme Court on Friday restored the election of Governor Abba Yusuf of the the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) as the dully elected Governor of Kano State.
The apex unanimously allowed the appeal filed by Governor Yusuf as meriterious and set aside the concurrent decisions of the tribunal and the Court of Appeal.
Justice John Okoro who delivered the lead judgment of the apex court, faulted the decisions of the lower courts for holdng that Yusuf was not a member of the party.
The judgment of the apex court applied to all other appeals on the Kano Governorship election.
Yusuf by his appeal, sought to upturn the November 17 judgment of the Court of Appeal, which affirmed the September 20 decision of the election tribunal voiding his victory in the March 18 election.
The tribunal had voided Yusuf’s victory after declaring 165,616 of his votes invalid, a decision a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal that sat in Abuja affirmed
Yusuf’s counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) contended that there was no legal basis for the tribunal and the Court of Appeal to annul his client’s election on grounds of non-compliance with the Electoral Guidelines issued by INEC.
