CSO: Supreme court should tread carefully on Kano guber dispute

The Citizens Participation Against Corruption Initiative, a civil society organisation (CSO), says the supreme court should tread carefully on the Kano governorship case because it is more “delicate” than the presidential poll.

The apex court would soon deliver judgment in the appeal filed by Abba Yusuf, governor of Kano state.

In November, the court of appeal in Abuja affirmed the verdict of the Kano governorship election petition tribunal which sacked Yusuf of the NNPP.

However, the appellate court verdict generated some controversy after a certified true copy of the judgment affirmed Yusuf as governor, a development that was blamed on “clerical error”.

In a statement on Thursday, Bishir Dauda, the CSO’s executive director, said the judges who will deliver the final verdict “should think very deeply about the consequences of their actions”.

“In this particular case, I think the supreme court has to tread carefully,” Dauda said.

“I am of the opinion that the Kano state governorship election dispute is more delicate and intricate than the presidential election.

“For example, in the case of a presidential election dispute, Bola Tinubu garnered the highest votes. Therefore it is easier for the people to accept the verdict of the apex court.

“But in the case of Kano, the candidate that got the highest votes was Engineer Abba Kabir Yusuf of NNPP.

“Now what people saw after INEC had returned the elected winner, is that some judges at a tribunal sat down and used calculator to deduct all those votes cast for the declared winner and rendered them useless, and then declared the candidate who got less votes in the election as winner of the elections.

“This is something that many people will not accept.”

The executive director added that “any judgment that invalidates the popular mandate will impact adversely on our electoral democracy”.