The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has expressed concern about the fate of democracy in Nigeria following the Appeal Court ruling affirming its party’s removal from office yesterday in Kano
The Court of Appeal in Abuja had sacked NNPP’s Abba Yusuf as governor of Kano State, upholding the decision of the lower election petition tribunal that had earlier nullified the governor’s election.
A three-member panel of the Court of Appeal led by Moore Adumein, in a unanimous judgement yesterday, declared Nasiru Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the March 18 governorship election in Kano State.
The tribunal had declared Gawuna the winner of the election after removing what it described as invalid votes cast in favour of Yusuf.
But the Court of Appeal anchored its decision on the disqualification of Yusuf as a candidate in the election, saying he was not a member of the NNPP at the time of the election.
The court added that without being a member of a political party, Yusuf could not have been validly nominated to run for the election in March.
“Yusuf Abba was not a member of the NNPP as of the time he was purportedly sponsored on March 18 for the Kano governorship election,” the judge ruled.
“The tribunal was wrong not to have disqualified the appellant, Governor Yusuf. The failure of NNPP to properly sponsor Mr Yusuf according to Section 177 (c) of the constitution is fatal to their case.
“All the nine issues are hereby resolved against the appellant. This appeal is hereby dismissed. The sum of N1 million is awarded as cost against Governor Yusuf,” Justice Adumein declared.
But in a telephone interview with LEADERSHIP Weekend, the chairman of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Hashimu Dungurawa, said the party was disappointed with the court verdict and expressed concern that democracy was under threat in Nigeria.
The NNPP chairman described the Appeal Court verdict as a sign of doom for democracy in Nigeria.
“The judgement is very much unexpected. We never expected it would happen this way. The way things are going and with the way the judicial system is, definitely democracy is coming to an end in this country.
“I see no reason why a person will go to the grassroots and introduce himself to the people; they will go to the polling booths to cast their votes, and the election umpire will issue him a certificate of return and he will enter office and just one, two or three people will sit down and remove him. This is very unbecoming and is not helping matters.”
He described democracy as a game of numbers which his party had proven to be ahead of other contenders in the state but their expectations have been dashed by the Appeal Court verdict.
He went on: “In all the Assembly members we are having 26 out of 40, we are having two out of three senators. And even the presidential candidate is from the state and had the highest votes in a state in the presidential contest.
“We are not happy with this judgement and consider it not acceptable. We will take all the necessary steps to reclaim our stolen mandate, because this is a stolen mandate and we will not allow it. People of Kano State are not happy with it, NNPP people are not happy with it,” he declared.
Yusuf, the incumbent governor, who had won the governorship election on the platform of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), had locked in a fierce legal battle with Nasiru Gawuna of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), over the outcome of the poll.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Mr Yusuf the winner of the March 18election with 1,019,602 votes against Mr Gawuna’s 890,705 votes.
Yusuf had ridden on the popularity of a former governor of the state, Rabiu Kwankwaso, and his political machinery, the Kwankwasiya Movement, to defeat Gawuna of the then ruling APC in the state.
But Gawuna challenged the election outcome at the Kano State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.
In a unanimous verdict on September 20, a three-member panel of the tribunal set aside Yusuf’s victory after declaring 165,663 of his votes invalid.
The lower tribunal, therefore, declared Gawuna, who turned out to have the highest number of votes after the deduction from Mr Yusuf’s score, as the lawfully elected candidate.
However, the governor appealed against the tribunal’s decision at the Court of Appeal, which affirmed the tribunal ruling.
The governor is expected to appeal the verdict at the Supreme Court which is the final court of instance.
Uneasy Calm, Mixed Reactions in Kano
Kano remained in uncertainty and calm as security operatives were placed in strategic locations in anticipation of any reaction by supporters.
Activities continued as usual yesterday. However, the state governor, Yusuf, and many of his aides had not been seen in the state for no fewer than seven days before the verdict.
Earlier, some schools in the metropolis sent back students and pupils back home while some private businesses, especially shop owners, did not open for business because of the fear of the unknown despite the presence of security officers in strategic areas.
However, the Appeal Court verdict elicited mixed reaction especially among the youths.
According to Young Masak, “INEC announced our mandate, who we voted for but the court has overturned it. This is not acceptable but we have left everything to God, but from now onward, I will never participate in any of Nigeria’s election or politics.
He argued that if INEC can declare the winner of an election following people’s wish and the court will upturn it, then there is no point participating.
Similarly, another resident, Abdulrahaman Nura, who expressed dissatisfaction at the judgement, said the court has not been fair to Governor Abba Yusuf and his followers.
He said, “What we want is for them to give who has won. It is a selfish judgement as far as I’m concerned. Whatever they have decided, we leave everything to God.”
An APC supporter, Usman Shuiabu, however said “God has been merciful and has given us back our mandate.”
He called on NNPP supporters to come and join hands with the APC to move the state forward.
“We in the APC don’t segregate; they should come even with their advice so that we can move on. This is divinely designed by God, and we are all one. They should not cause any trouble because that will not stop God’s will.”
