The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, on Friday voided the election of Mr Abba Yusuf as governor of Kano State, thereby upholding the decision of the election petition tribunal that earlier made the pronouncement.
In a unanimous decision by the three-member panel of justices, the court held that Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) was not a valid candidate in the gubernatorial election that was held in the state on March 18.
It maintained that evidence that was adduced by the parties established that Yusuf was not a member of the party at the time the election was held.
According to the court, Yusuf, under section 177(c) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, Yusuf was not qualified to contest the governorship election since he was not validly sponsored by the NNPP.
“A person must be a member of a political party before he can be sponsored for an election.
“Sponsorship without membership is like putting something on nothing,” said Justice M. U. Adumeh who read the lead judgement.
He noted that the tribunal was wrong not to have disqualified Yusuf in its ruling.
“The tribunal was wrong not to have disqualified him. The failure to comply with sec 177(c) is fatal to their election. Where a party carelessly nominates a candidate such is a nullity irrespective of whether he performs well. Sponsorship without membership is like putting nothing on something, it cannot stand. This is a clear example of acting with brazen impunity as if the Constitution is not binding,” the judge said.
Citing a provision of the electoral act, he said a party must have the names of its registered members both in hard and soft copies.
He also said that Yusuf did not put up any resistance against the allegation.
“If you claim you are a member of a party is not logical to say so yourself rather than by proxy?” the judge asked.
He said Section 134 of the electoral act allows the court to entertain an averment on the qualification of a candidate in an election.
Justice Adumeh held that the court cannot allow political party acts arbitrary.
“The Constitution is supreme and binding on all person including political parties.
“Political parties cannot be permitted to circumvent the clear and mandatory provision of the constitution. To contest an election you must not only be a member of a party but sponsored by that party.
“The electoral act made it mandatory that a party must keep a register of its members and make it available to INEC before an election.
“Abba was not a member of his party by the time he was purportedly sponsored by his party. He was not qualified to qualify for the election. A court must be consistent with its judgment,” he maintained.
Recall that a three-member panel of the election petition tribunal led by Justice Oluyemi Osadebay had on September 20 set aside Yusuf’s victory after invalidating 165,663 of his votes.
The tribunal held that the ballot papers were neither signed nor stamped by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Following the deduction of the invalid votes, Yusuf, who was initially declared winner of the governorship poll with a total of 1,019,602 votes, had his tally reduced to 853, 939 votes.
With the development, his closest rival and candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Nasiru Gawuna, emerged as the winner of the election with 890,705 votes.
Yusuf, however, appealed the tribunal’s decision at the Court of Appeal, which delivered its verdict today.
The court’s decision is not the final, as Yusuf can still appeal to the Supreme Court.
