Protests broke out in Kano State on Wednesday, November 22, following the sacking of Governor Abba Yusuf by an Appeal Court.
The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on November 17 affirmed the Kano state election Petition tribunal judgment that sacked Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf and declared APC’s Nasiru Ganuwa winner of the March 18 election.
The protests broke out following reports of some discrepancies in the Certified True Copy of the judgement which appeared in public domain and seemed contrary to the verdict of the appellate court.
While the widely reported verdict of the court last Friday indicated that the appelate court upheld the decision of the petition tribunal sacking Governor Abba Yusuf, the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Haruna Isa-Dederi, argued that CTC of the judgment showed that Yusuf’s Victory at the poll was affirmed by the appeal court.
Some of the protesters said they were ready to die as they demanded justice.
Men of the Kano state police command had to disperse the protesters with teargas cannisters. The protesters however said they would give their all, including their lives, to retain the mandate of the incumbent governor.
Appeal court clears air on Kano judgment controversy; cites typo error
The Chief Registrar of the Court of Appeal, Umar Bangari, on Wednesday November 22, said there is no controversy with regards the Court of Appeals judgment on the Kano State governorship election.
There had been several interpretations of the judgment following a discrepancy between what was read out in the open court and the contents of the Certified True Copy of the judgment.
At the open court, the three-member panel led by M. A. Adumein upheld the judgment of the Kano State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal which sacked Governor Kabir Yusuf of the New Nigeria People’s Party. However, in the concluding part of the CTC, it read that the issue was resolved against the APC and its candidate.
The New Nigeria Peoples Party, during a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, accused the Court of Appeal of changing the judgment after the judges had concluded deliberations on the matter.
Reacting to the controversies, Bangari in a statement released, said what happened in the judgment’s Certified True Copy was a clerical error.
“What happened in the part of the judgment is just a mere clerical error that ought not to draw any issue. The court is empowered to correct such clerical errors and would be done as appropriate. The clerical error would be rectified once parties in the matter file formal application to that effect.”
He cited Order 23 Rule 4 of the Court of Appeal HandBook which empowered the court to correct any clerical error once detected by the court or any of the parties in the matter. He insisted that contrary to insinuations, the judgment of the court remained valid.
