A Lagos State chieftain of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Adekunle Aderibigbe, says the Appeal Court verdict sacking Governor Abba Yusuf was an attempt to rob Kano majority of their mandates.

He said, “The verdict passed by the Appeal Court to invalidate the membership of the elected governor of Kano State ridicules not just the major principle of democracy as the choice of the majority but also the importance of participation of citizens in the general elections.”

Mr Aderibigbe, also a Lagos State House of Assembly NNPP candidate in the 2023 general elections, told journalists that the court should not be seen to tamper with the principle of majority, on which democracy stands.

“Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf was never disputed as a member of the party by any member of NNPP up to the point of being elected, nor was he denied membership by the umpire, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

“Questioning his party membership at this moment, eight months down the line of the election, is not just evidence of a lack of substances to nullify the outcome of the election,” he stated. 

According to him, there is no way the NNPP will not be exercising the right to be heard and getting justice by disputing the verdict at the Supreme Court.

The chieftain expressed the hope that the Supreme Court would reinstate Mr Yusuf.

“The law will reinstate the rightful position and interests of the majority of Kano citizens as a primary democratic interest of one million Kanawas for the choice of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf over the pettiness of the preceding verdict,” he said. 

In an epochal judgment on Friday, the Abuja Division of the Appeal Court upheld the decision of the Kano State governorship election petitions tribunal, which sacked Mr Yusuf earlier in September.

The appellate court, in a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of justices, held that Mr Yusuf was not a valid candidate in the gubernatorial election that was held on March 18.

The justices stated that proof of evidence that was tendered before the court established that the governor was not a member of the NNPP as of the time the election was held.

“Sponsorship without membership is like putting something on nothing,” the appellate court held in its lead judgment that was delivered by Justice M. U. Adumeh.

Consequently, the appellate court declared Nasiru Gawuna of the APC winner of the election. 

(NAN)