The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano State has submitted a petition to the Kano Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, contesting the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) declaration of Abba Kabir Yusuf from the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) as the winner of the March 18, 2023 governorship election.
In a five-volume petition, the APC claims that Yusuf was ineligible to compete in the election because his name was not on the list of NNPP members submitted to INEC. The petitioner further contends that NNPP did not secure victory through a majority of lawful votes, arguing that some votes cast for the party were invalid and, if removed from their tally, APC would have the highest number of votes cast.
The petition alleges that the Kano Resident Electoral Commissioner erred in announcing Yusuf as the winner, asserting that the margin of lead was not greater than the number of cancelled votes and that the election should have been declared inconclusive.
APC requests that the Tribunal declare NNPP without a candidate since Yusuf was not on their voter register submitted to INEC at the time of the election. They are also seeking to have Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna declared as the winner, or to have APC announced as the winner of the election after deducting the invalid votes from NNPP’s lawful scores.
Alternatively, the petitioner is asking the Tribunal to declare the election inconclusive due to the margin of lead not exceeding the number of cancelled votes.
The APC governorship candidate was not included as a party in the petition, possibly due to his concession of defeat. The respondents in the petition are NNPP, Yusuf, and INEC, as the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Respondents, respectively. The respondents have 21 days to reply to the petition after receiving the court processes.
