Youth group: Verdict sacking Abba Yusuf as Kano governor self-inflicted

The Nigerian Youths in Politics (NYP), a coalition of different youth groups, says the verdict sacking Abba Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) as governor of Kano was self-inflicted.

On November 17, the court of appeal in Abuja affirmed the verdict of the Kano state governorship election petition tribunal that sacked Yusuf as governor.

The appellate court said NNPP breached the constitution by sponsoring Yusuf who was not a member of the party when the election was held.

Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Sunday, Magaji Alidu, the coalition’s president, said the party and its candidate willfully ignored the electoral law.

“The party should blame itself for its self-inflicted woes rather than seeking every avenue to impugn the integrity of the judiciary,” Alidu said.

“Contrary to the ongoing bastardization of the Nigerian judiciary by some aggrieved persons who lost at the tribunal and the appeal court as a result of non-compliance with the Electoral Act 2022, as amended, we wish to state that the court did not act ultra vires when it held that Engr. Abba Kabir Yusuf was not a member of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) as of the time the party sponsored him as its governorship candidate in Kano state.

“We agree that the tribunal strengthened democracy by deducting the uncertified ballot papers which were neither signed nor stamped by the electoral officers presiding during the poll as stipulated by law.

“The Electoral Act 2022, as amended, in Article 63 Sub Section 2 captures it.

“Section 177, Sub-Section C of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, states that one must be a registered member of a political party and be sponsored by the same political party to be qualified to contest for the office of a Governor of a State.

“This is to show that those who jump from one political party to the other in a bid to secure tickets must also be careful because there is a judicial precedent to that effect.

“The case of Abba Yusuf is not the first, and neither will it be the last.

“In the case of Senator Hope Uzodinma vs Uche Nwosu, the supreme court had established precedence on membership of a political party and the sponsorship of a candidate.”

The president of the coalition added that politicians must desist from trying to blackmail the courts when a verdict does not favour them.