The National and State House of Assembly elections petition tribunal in Kano has on Thursday, invalidated the election victory of Mukhtar Yerima, the representative of Tarauni Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives.
Headed by Justice I.P. Chima, the three-member tribunal panel concluded that Yerima’s election was void due to his disqualification on the grounds of presenting a forged primary school certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Yerima had secured victory in the February 18th, 2023 election on the platform of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), defeating his rival Hafizu Kawu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The tribunal upheld the case presented by Kawu, who challenged the legitimacy of Yerima’s win based on the allegation of a counterfeit certificate. The panel concurred that the evidence demonstrated forgery by the NNPP candidate
According to DailyNews24, a news media with base in Kano, the former member of the House of Representatives, Kawu, petitioned the tribunal, challenging the legitimacy of Yerima’s victory on the basis of a fake certificate.
The tribunal therefore held that the NNPP had no candidate in the election and that all the votes that were cast for Yerima were wasted votes.
In its ruling on Thursday, the three-panel tribunal sided with Kawu’s petition, voiding Yerima’s election and directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to retract the certificate of return previously granted to Yerima.
The tribunal dismissed Yerima’s claim that he changed his name in 2022, stating that his consistent use of three different names (Umar Mukhtar Zakari) on his international passports since 2009 contradicted his defense. Furthermore, the tribunal noted that his primary school certificate from Hausawa Primary School still bore the name Umar Mukhtar.
It also held that the said primary school, Hausawa Primary School, has disowned the certificate rendered by the sacked lawmaker.