The Supreme Court on Friday, set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which nullified the election of Governor Kabir Yusuf of Kano State.
A five-member panel of justices has now unanimously held that the lower court misunderstood the import of the purported deduction of 165,616 ballot papers in favour of Governor Yusuf.
The lead judgment by Justice Inyang Okoro also held that the issue of Governor Yusuf’s membership was a pre-election matter.
He said the finding that by the virtue of Section 177(c) of the Nigerian Constitution and Section 134(1) of the Electoral Act, Governor Yusuf was not sponsored by the NNPP, was not a finding of the electoral tribunal but a mere observation that his name was not contained in the membership list
“This court has consistently maintained that the issue of nomination or sponsorship of a candidate for an election is completely an exclusive prerogative of the political party,” he held.
