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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The Kano State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has sacked the state governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, and declared Dr. Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the March 18 election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had announced Yusuf of New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) winner of the election.
According to INEC, Yusuf polled 1,019,602 votes to defeat Gawuna, who had 890,705 votes.
Gawuna had accepted the outcome of the election, but his party, APC, approached the tribunal.
Delivering judgement on APC’s petition virtually on Wednesday, the three-man panel led by Justice Oluyemi Akintan-Osadebay, ordered INEC to withdraw the certificate of return issued to Yusuf, and directed a certificate of return to be issued to Gawuna as the duly elected governor of the state.
The tribunal had earlier deducted 165,663 votes from the total votes of Yusuf, saying the ballot papers (165,663) were not stamped or signed, which rendered them invalid.
Details later……