The appellate court, in a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of justices, nullified the election of Governor Yusuf.
The held that Governor Yusuf was not a valid candidate in the gubernatorial election held in the state on March 18, stressing that evidence that was adduced by the parties established that Governor Yusuf was not a member of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, at the time the election was held.
The court stated that Yusuf, under section 177(c) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, was not qualified to contest the governorship election since he was not validly sponsored by the NNPP.
“A person must be a member of a political party before he can be sponsored for an election.
“Sponsorship without membership is like putting something on nothing,” the court held in its lead judgement that was delivered by Justice M. U. Adumeh, as it upheld the earlier judgement of the Kano state Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which nullified Governor Yusuf’s election.
Spark News recalls that the tribunal had in a virtual judgement it delivered on September 20, sacked governor Yusuf of the NNPP, from office and declared Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna of the All Progressive Congress, APC, as the valid winner of the governorship poll held in the state on March 18.
