The Appellate court is expected to give a ruling over an appeal over the earlier decision of a three-man panel of judges led by Justice Oluyemi Akintan Osadebay which sacked Yusuf on September 20, 2023, by declaring 165,663 of his votes invalid because they were not signed or stamped by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja is ready to deliver its judgment on the appeal Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf filed to challenge his removal by the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal on Friday.
The Appellate court is expected to give a ruling over an appeal over the earlier decision of a three-man panel of judges led by Justice Oluyemi Akintan Osadebay which sacked Yusuf on September 20, 2023, by declaring 165,663 of his votes invalid because they were not signed or stamped by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The tribunal had reduced the governor’s votes reduced to 853,939 while those of Nasir Ganuwa, his All Progressives Congress (APC) rival remained at 890,705.
Not satisfied with this judgement, Yusuf approached the Court of Appeal to nullify the tribunal verdict, which he described as “unfair” and “a miscarriage of justice”, and headed to the appeal court.
Wole Olanipekun, SAN, representing Yusuf, sought the court to overturn the tribunal's decision.
In a rebuttal to the verdict on vote papers, the senior lawyer stated that this is the first time in history that a tribunal has annulled an election due to non-signing of the back of ballot papers.
He said the tribunal erred, adding that it was the first time a political party filed a case without including its candidate as a party in the petition, and the candidate was pronounced the victor of the election.
But Akin Olujimi SAN, counsel for APC, countered him saying the Appeal Court stated emphatically that the non-signing of ballots amounted to electoral malpractice.
He argued that INEC regulations have set out what presiding officers are to do at the point of voting, adding that the back of ballot papers must be signed and dated.
The appellate court had reserved judgment, saying a date would be communicated to the parties involved.
According to Daily Trust, on Thursday, the court announced that judgment would be delivered on Friday.