Politics
Kano Guber Petition: Appeal Court Substitutes NNPP With APC
. . . Upholds Bala Mohammed’s election as Bauchi Governor
In a development widely seen in political circles as clipping the wings of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), the Court of Appeal (CA), sitting in Abuja has ruled in favour of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on the gubernatorial petition on Kano State.
Consequently, the CA, on Friday sacked NNPP’s Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State.
By upholding the ruling of the Justice Oluyemi Akintan Osadebay led tribunal, which sacked Yusuf on September 20, 2023, the judiciary has almost put paid to the political fortunes of the NNPP, literarily.
Recall that the lower court had declared 165,663 votes of Yusuf, who contested under the NNPP, invalid on the grounds that they were not signed or stamped by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
That ruling had reduced Yusuf’s to 853,939 while those of his APC counterpart, Nasir Ganuwa, his APC remained at 890,705.
Yusuf in rejecting the verdict described it as “unfair” and “a miscarriage of justice”, and headed to the appeal court.
At the court, Wole Olanipekun, SAN, lead for Yusuf, asked that the judgement of the tribunal be set aside.
Kicking against the ruling on ballot papers, the senior lawyer said that was the first time in the history that a tribunal would annul an election over non-signing of the back of ballot papers.
According to him, the tribunal erred, he also argued that, that was the first time that a political party would file a matter without joining its candidate as a party in the petition and the candidate would be declared winner of the polls.
However, counsel for APC, Akin Olujimi, SAN, countered that the CA stated emphatically that the non-signing of ballots amounted to electoral malpractice.
In a related development, the CA, Abuja Division, on Friday, affirmed the victory of Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State in the March 18 governorship election.
The appeal was filed by the APC’s governorship candidate, Sadique Abubakar, following the tribunal judgment upholding Mohammed’s victory.
The panel of three justices were unanimous, awarding no cost as the court ruled that each party to the matter should bear their costs.
The presiding justice read the judgment in the order of the appellant’s plea before the appeal court.
On plea number one, the appellant pleaded that the election be nullified because the forms and booklets used in the election were not properly filled. The court ruled that the appellant failed to prove this allegation with the needed evidence.
The court also ruled that the appellant failed to state the polling units involved in the said allegations and that he was unable to state what was missing in the forms. It further held that the appellant was unable to prove how the said improperly filled forms affected the results of the election.
The court held that the witnesses called by the appellant were unable to prove that they understood what the forms looked like, while commending the tribunal for doing a thorough job by scrutinising the evidence before it.
On the plea that there was massive non-compliance with the electoral laws, the court ruled that the appellant again could not prove this, as some of the witnesses who testified did not vote on election day and those who voted only spoke based on what they saw in their polling units alone.
On the issue of the alleged unprofessional conduct of INEC officials, the court held the same views as the tribunal, saying it was never part of the plea by the appellant at the lower court and that it was not pleaded and could not be argued.
The plea was ruled in favour of the first respondent, Mohammed.
On the plea about fraudulent cancellations, mutilations and alterations to favour the PDP candidate, the appeal court noted that, if proven, falsification of results is a criminal matter that could lead to the cancellation of election results.
However, according to the court, the appellant had the burden to prove this and had to bring the genuine one, if he argued the one tendered by INEC was falsified.
The court noted that the appellant, unfortunately, could not prove this. The court also said the least the appellant could have done was present a genuine result along with the said falsified one.
Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State has explained that the persistent crisis and legal disputes within the Peoples Democratic Party compelled him to defect to the All Progressives Congress.
The governor’s defection was formally announced on Monday by his deputy, Mani Mummuni, after a stakeholders’ meeting held at the Government House in Gusau.
In a statement issued by the governor’s spokesperson, Sulaiman Bala Idris, the move was described as a necessary step taken in the interest of the state and supported by political stakeholders across Zamfara.
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According to the statement, Governor Lawal had remained committed to the PDP despite the ongoing leadership crisis and had made several efforts to reconcile factions within the party.
However, attempts to achieve peace and unity reportedly failed, leading to prolonged legal battles.
The development followed a judgment by the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which dismissed an appeal filed by the PDP challenging an earlier ruling of the Federal High Court.
The earlier judgment had restrained the Independent National Electoral Commission from recognising the outcome of the party’s national convention held in Ibadan, Oyo State.
The governor was said to have informed political stakeholders during a series of meetings that he would make a final decision about his political future after the appellate court delivered its ruling.
Following the judgment, Lawal concluded that joining the APC would better position him to continue what he described as the “Zamfara Rescue and Rebuild Mission.”
His defection marks a significant shift in the political landscape of Zamfara State and could influence political alignments ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has handed a significant setback to Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, dismissing his appeal challenging a Federal High Court ruling that questioned his eligibility to contest the upcoming governorship election.
A three-member panel delivered a unanimous judgment on Monday, affirming that the trial court acted correctly when it allowed Dr Akindele Egbuwalo, the plaintiff, to amend his originating summons.
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Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam, who read the lead judgment, said the governor failed to show that the High Court’s decision caused any miscarriage of justice or denied him a fair hearing.
The appeal was therefore dismissed for lacking merit, and the court awarded ₦2 million in costs against Aiyedatiwa.
The ruling reinforces the November 24, 2025, Federal High Court decision in Akure, which granted Egbuwalo permission to challenge Aiyedatiwa’s eligibility for re-election.
Earlier, the Court of Appeal also rejected an application by Aiyedatiwa to set aside a January 27, 2026, order staying proceedings in the case before the Federal High Court.
The appellate court clarified that the stay was a lawful exercise of its jurisdiction aimed at protecting the integrity of the proceedings.
The panel further emphasized that attempting to overturn its own order would be akin to sitting on appeal over its own decision.
The governor’s remaining option, the court noted, is to challenge the ruling at the Supreme Court. Another ₦2 million in costs was awarded against Aiyedatiwa.
The crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party has deepened following a ruling by the Court of Appeal in Abuja which upheld a ban on the party’s proposed national convention in Ibadan, Oyo State.
A three-man panel of the appellate court on Monday dismissed an appeal filed by a faction of the party led by former Minister of Special Duties, Kabiru Turaki, challenging the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court to hear a suit concerning the controversial convention.
The Turaki-led faction had approached the Court of Appeal after a Federal High Court barred the party from holding its planned national convention scheduled for November 14 and 15, 2025.
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The lower court also restrained the Independent National Electoral Commission from recognising or validating the proposed convention.
However, delivering judgment, the appellate court ruled that the Federal High Court had the authority to entertain the case, rejecting the argument that the matter was purely an internal affair of the party.
According to the court, the appellants could not present what it described as a clear violation of the party’s constitution and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as merely an internal party issue.
The panel subsequently dismissed the appeal and awarded a cost of N2 million against the appellants.
The ruling is part of judgments delivered in nine harmonised appeals filed by the Turaki-led faction over the dispute surrounding the convention.
The latest court decision is expected to further intensify the internal wrangling within the opposition party as it continues to grapple with leadership disputes and preparations ahead of the 2027 general elections.
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