The All Progressive Congress’ (APC’s) legal team has provided an explanation of the party’s strengths in the just concluded Kano election tribunal.
Nasiru Gawuna of the APC was named the validly elected candidate after the electoral tribunal removed Abba Kabir Yusuf, the current governor of Kano state, from office.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced Yusuf, who ran on the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) ticket, as the election’s victor after the vote in March.
But on Wednesday, after hearing the petitions, the three-person panel ordered that the certificate of return that INEC had given to Yusuf be withdrawn and that one be given to Gawuna instead.
The court deducted 165,663 votes from Yusuf’s total as invalid votes, stating that the affected ballot papers were not stamped or signed and therefore declared invalid.
According to the counsel, they presented over 160,000 invalid ballot papers used in the election and it is on this basis that the court declared Gawuna winner.