The Court of Appeal in Abuja is set to deliver judgment on Friday in the appeal filed by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf challenging his removal by the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal.
A three-man panel of judges, led by Justice Oluyemi Akintan Osadebay, had on September 20, 2023, declared 165,663 of Yusuf’s votes invalid due to the absence of signatures or stamps from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
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Consequently, the governor’s votes were reduced to 853,939, while those of his APC rival, Nasir Ganuwa, remained at 890,705.
Governor Yusuf contested the tribunal verdict, denouncing it as “unfair” and “a miscarriage of justice,” leading him to the Court of Appeal.
Wole Olanipekun, SAN, representing Yusuf, requested that the tribunal’s judgment be set aside, emphasizing that it was unprecedented for an election to be annulled over the non-signing of the back of ballot papers.
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In response, Akin Olujimi SAN, counsel for the APC, argued that the Appeal Court had categorically stated that the non-signing of ballots constituted electoral malpractice.
He pointed out that INEC regulations mandate presiding officers to sign and date the back of ballot papers.
The appellate court had reserved judgment, and on Thursday, it announced that the judgment would be delivered on Friday.