The certified true copy of the Appeal Court judgment on the appeal filed by the embattled governor of Kano State, Abba Kabir Yusuf who was recently sacked by the governorship election tribunal, showed that the appellate court sacked the governor and upheld his election at the same time.
This has caused confusion as many struggle to understand what actually transpired.
While the Appeal Court ruling delivered last week Friday by Justice Moore Adumein who led a three-man panel to preside over the matter, upheld the sack of Yusuf as governor, confusion has however, arisen from the conflicting orders on the pages of the certified true copy of the judgment.
The wordings of the judgment showed that the appellate court sacked Yusuf and surprisingly upheld his election in the same breath.
The lead judgment, delivered by Mr Adumein, resolved live issues “in favour of the first respondent and against the appellant.”
This pronouncement essentially upheld the verdict of the governorship election tribunal which earlier ruled that Mr Yusuf was not duly sponsored by his party, New Nigeria Peoples Party to contest the election and that the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Nasir Gawuna, was the rightful winner of the election.
But after this definitive paragraph, which logically concludes the consideration and resolution of various issues and arguments in the judgment, follows an explicitly contradictory paragraph that starkly contrasts the initial ruling and creates uncertainty around the interpretation of the document and the final disposition of issues raised in the appeal.
“In the circumstances, I resolve all the issues in favour of the appellant and against the first respondent,” the paragraph read. This second paragraph holds that “all” issues are resolved in favour of the appellant, Mr Yusuf and added that the judgement of the governorship election tribunal, which sacked Mr Yusuf, is set aside.
“The judgement of the tribunal in Petition No: EPT/KN/GOV/01/2023 between: All Progressives Congress (APC) v. Independent National Electoral Commission & 2 ORS. delivered on the 20th day of September, 2023 is hereby set aside,” it read.
The judgment further awarded N1 million in cost in favour of Mr Yusuf against the respondents of the appeal.
The judgment was unanimous with the two other judges, Bitrus Sanga and Lateef Adebayo Ganiyu signing off on the pronouncements as well as adopting the views and orders expressed as their own.
The spokesperson for the Court of Appeal, Saadatu Musa, when asked to comment on the inconsistencies said she would relay to the justices who delivered the ruling. She has yet to provide updates on whether the CTC would be withdrawn for review.
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