The Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) has officially retracted its appeal against the decision of the Kano Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.
In a letter dated October 6, signed by Suleiman Alkali, the head of the commission’s legal department in Kano, INEC stated that it sees no grounds to pursue an appeal in this matter.
“I have been instructed by the Commission headquarters that INEC as an umpire have no reason to appeal any judgment.
“Consequently, the National Commission In charge if Legal Services and National Commissioner in charge of Kano zone directed that the appeal be withdrawn and all processes for all Appeals should be forwarded to the Kano Office,” the letter, addressed to the secretary of the Kano Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, read.
On September 20, a three-member panel unseated Governor Abba Yusuf and declared Nasiru Gawuna, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner of the March 18 governorship poll.
The tribunal, conducting proceedings via a teleconference service, Zoom, invalidated 165,663 votes from Mr. Yusuf’s count, citing that these ballot papers were not properly stamped or signed, thus rendering them invalid.
However, the electoral commission had previously filed a 33-ground appeal against this judgment, contending that the trial tribunal made a legal error by declaring the petitioner’s candidate, who was not a party to the case, as the election winner.
Furthermore, it argued that the tribunal “misjudged in law and committed a serious error when it failed to thoroughly assess the evidence before it, particularly the evidence uncovered during cross-examination by the Appellant, which had significant implications for the resolution of the issues in the Petition, resulting in a miscarriage of justice to the Appellant.”
Additionally, INEC stated in another ground that the tribunal erred in law and violated the Appellant’s fundamental right by engaging in case matters, including privately scrutinizing documents in their chambers, conducting mathematical calculations, making discoveries, and investigations, thereby arriving at conclusions that only evidence presented in open court could have revealed. In this case, such evidence was not presented, making the entire proceedings null and void.
Source/Decency Global News
