SaharaReporters earlier reported that the electoral commission’s Kano zonal Head of Department, Legal, Suleiman Alkali, in a short statement issued on Friday confirmed INEC’s withdrawal of its appeal against the tribunal judgment.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reversed itself and instructed its Kano State zonal office to proceed with the appeal of the judgment of the Kano State governorship election petition tribunal which sacked Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).
SaharaReporters earlier reported that the electoral commission’s Kano zonal Head of Department, Legal, Suleiman Alkali, in a short statement issued on Friday confirmed INEC’s withdrawal of its appeal against the tribunal judgment.
The 33-ground appeal the commission prepared hence was withdrawn with the All Progressives Congress (APC), the sacked Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf and the NNPP as respondents.
Alkali had in the statement on Friday said, “I have been instructed by the Commission headquarters that INEC as an umpire have no reason to appeal any judgment.
“Consequently, the National Commission in charge of Legal Services and National Commissioner in charge of Kano Zone directed that the appeal be withdrawn and all processes for all appeals should be forwarded to the Kano Office.”
However, in a reverse statement issued on Saturday by INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, said that the statement issued by Alkali was not authorised by the commission and that the statement had been withdrawn and Alkali reprimanded.
He said, “The attention of the commission has been drawn on media reports based on a letter written by the Legal Officer of our Kano State office indicating that the commission had withdrawn from the appeal process in the ongoing Kano Governorship election petition case.
“We wish to state categorically that the letter was not authorized. It has since been withdrawn and the officer reprimanded. The public is therefore advised to discountenance the insinuation that the commission has withdrawn from the case or even worse abandoned the appeal
“We wish to state categorically that where litigants join INEC in a case. The commission is under obligation to respond accordingly. We have therefore instructed our lawyers to proceed in line with extant policy of the commission. The policy has not changed.”