KINGSLEY BENNETH;SUZAN EDEH

ABUJA / BAUCHI – The New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) has vowed to appeal the judgment of the Kano State Governorship Election Petitions Court that declared former deputy gov­ernor of the state and APC governorship candidate, Dr. Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna, as the rightful winner of the March 18, 2023 governorship election in the state.

The party also maintained that the ruling was “most unfair judgment”, laughable and nothing but a pure mis­carriage of justice.”

The party in a statement on Wednesday, said that it received the judgment of the three-man tribunal “with ut­ter incredulity and disbelief.”

Acting National Chair­man, Abba Kawu Ali, stat­ed, “The reported judgment nullified the free, credible and globally acclaimed fair election of our governorship candidate, Engr. Abba Kabir Yusuf, and brazenly awarded the election to the APC candi­date, Nasiru Gawuna.

“The tribunal arrived at this unjust judgment by unfairly subtracting 165,663 votes from the governor’s tally in order to enable it unfairly award the election result to the candidate of the ruling APC.

“In doing so, the tribunal obviously affirms its belief that the vote tally of the APC candidate was sacrosanct.”

It further explained that the decision of the election tribunal was “a slap on the face of constitutionalism and rule of law, and is capa­ble of further discouraging the electorate from having confidence in the judiciary.”

This is as it regretted that the panel overturned the will of the people and awarded election results to those who it said evidently lost the elec­tion.

The statement, however, called on supporters of the opposition party in the state, and in the rest of the country to remain calm and maintain the peace, adding that “This lopsided judgment cannot stand on the altar of natural justice.”

Jubilation In Kano As Tribunal Sacks Gov. Yusuf, Declares Gawu­na Winner

Earlier, supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Wednesday, jubilat­ed as the Kano Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting at the Miller Road High Court declared former deputy governor of the state and APC governorship candi­date, Dr. Nasiru Yusuf Gawu­na, as the rightful winner of the March 18, 2023 governor­ship election in the state.

The three-member tri­bunal chaired by Justice Oluyemi Akintan-Osadebay sacked Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, and ordered the Inde­pendent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue a fresh certificate of return to Nasir Yusuf Gawuna of the APC.

Part of the reasons for Yu­suf’s sack was that his name was not in the NNPP register submitted to INEC, the issue of over-voting, among others.

The tribunal deducted 165,663 votes from Gov. Yu­suf’s total as invalid votes, stating that the ballot papers were not stamped or signed and therefore declared inval­id.

However, security agen­cies were fully on ground to avert any possible crisis as a result of the tribunal judg­ment.

For fear of the unknown, residents of the Sabon Gari area of Kano, a pre-domi­nantly non-native communi­ty ran helter-skelter as most people closed their business premises, when report of the tribunal ruling filtered in.

Though Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf was in Abuja when the judgment was de­livered.

The NNPP has kicked against the judgment, vowing to challenge it at the Appeal Court.

It would be recalled that the judges were absent in court as they delivered their verdict through Zoom.

The ancient commercial city of Kano remains peace­ful and calm as at the time of filling this report.

Bauchi Gov Commends Tribunal For Upholding His Victory

Governor Bala Moham­med of Bauchi State has commended the tribunal for upholding his victory.

Governor Mohammed, who stated this while deliv­ering a speech shortly after the tribunal affirmed his election as governor of the state on Wednesday, called on his opponents to sheathe their swords and join him to harness enormous resources of the state to create a mod­ern economy that would ben­efit everyone within Bauchi State, Nigeria’s pearl of tour­ism.

“Today, the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Bauchi revalidated the mandate that you gave to me last March. It was a profound judgment that will continue to resonate within multiple circles as a demon­stration of judicial rigour and common sense and an affirmation of the sovereign will of the people over polit­ical brinksmanship and an entitlement mentality.

“Our victory today is by the grace of Allah who gives power to whom he wishes and takes it without consult­ing the holder. We are once again reminded that all pow­er is held in trust on behalf of God.

“It is an unambiguous statement that despite the mischief of political mer­chants who arrogate to themselves kingmaker status and deceive some of our un­suspecting compatriots into believing that they can deter­mine the destiny of others, God still reigns in the affairs of all his creations.

“In the nature of things, many of our supporters would expect me to jubilate over the verdict that has just confirmed the overwhelm­ing mandate that they freely gave to me at the last gover­norship election in the state. Naturally, I am relieved and happy that this distraction has been put aside.

“However, how I wish that we got to this point devoid of the acrimony, the bitterness, the resource hemorrhage, the bickering, the time wasted. How I wish that rather than dissipate energy through avoidable litigation, we had all resolved what is a dis­agreement among brothers through discussion, consul­tation and unity of purpose. How I wish all of us had sub­mitted to the supreme will of Allah than succumb to our ego and personal fantasies.

“As a constitutionalist who has stood with the law at critical moments in our country’s history, I will be the first to admit that the framers of our constitution did not err by coopting ju­dicial intervention as part and parcel of the electoral process. It is the epitome of our doctrine of separation of powers that gives confidence to the aggrieved not to resort to self-help. It ensures consti­tutional and social harmony.

“However, I wish to state, with every sense of respon­sibility that unbridled liti­gation continues to wreak incalculable havoc on our body polity, social conscious­ness and economic progress. More importantly, it gives a segment of the populace a false sense of indignation just as it unnecessarily po­larises the society. In all sin­cerity, I do not think it pays to continue this way.

“Suffocated by the pain of loss, we tend to ignore the fact that we are members of the same family, that our strength lies in our unity; that our progress is defined not much by how well we are able to take care of our personal interests but by the lives we touch; that our wealth is defined not by how much we have added to our possessions but by how many people we are able to lift from poverty to prosperity; that our authority and influence are not defined by the posi­tion of power we occupy but by the degree of respect the people are prepared to accord us and that our security is de­fined not by how much power we wield but by the collec­tive goodwill of the people through the grace of God.

“Now that the tribunal has ruled, it is my candid opinion that it is time to set aside whatever misgivings we may have and move on. The task ahead of us is enor­mous, requiring unity of purpose, a polling together of resources, integration of talents and leveraging the unique attributes of each of the contestants, as we seek to create a better society for our people”, he said.

Kano Imposes 24-Hour Curfew

Kano State government has imposed 24-hour curfew to ensure peace and order in the state, following the out­come of the state Governor­ship Election Tribunal ruling that favoured the candidate of the opposition APC, Dr. Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna.

The curfew order was contained in a letter with reference no: K/SEC/ H/435/T.1/153, dated Septem­ber 20, 2023, communicated to Kano State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mohammed Us­aini Gumel, and other securi­ty chiefs in the state.

According to the state gov­ernment’s directive, the cur­few takes effect from 6:00p.m of Wednesday, September 20 to 6:00p.m of Thursday, Sep­tember, 21, 2023.

The Commissioner of Po­lice, Mr. Gumel said violators of the 24-hour curfew would be arrested and made to face the full wrath of the law.

A statement to that effect, personally signed by CP Gu­mel and made available to journalists reads: “In view of the constitutional man­date of the Nigeria Police Force alongside the relevant internal security and law enforcement agencies to pre­serve law and order in the state, the Kano State Police Command has mapped out strategies on that direction and call on the good people of the state to give the necessary confidence and supports.

“Going forward, Kano State residents are called upon to note that combined security forces have already been dispatched to the nooks and crannies, including the entry and exits of the state to ensure enforcement and strict compliance of the twenty-four hours curfew order as communicated by the state government via letter with reference no: K/ SEC/H/435/T.1/153 dated 20th September, 2023 taking effect from 6p.m of Wednes­day, 20th September to 6p.m of Thursday, 21st September 2023. Violators will be arrest­ed and made to face the full wrath of the law.

“Finally, I wish to appreci­ate all the peace-loving people of the state and urge them to remain law abiding as it’s in the best interest of all that we come together to maintain law and order in the state.”