Police declare 24-hour curfew as tribunal removes Kano gov
Following the removal of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of the New Nigerian People’s Party by the state’s Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal on Wednesday, the administration of Kano State issued a 24-hour curfew in the state to prevent a breakdown in law and order.
On Wednesday, security was increased throughout the Kano metropolis shortly after a three-person election tribunal led by Justice Oluyemi Akintan-Osadebay declared Nasir Gawuna, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, the victor of the state’s March 2023 governorship election.
In a statement, the state’s commissioner of police, Mohammed Gumel, who verified the curfew order, stated that the restriction was in place from Wednesday at 6 p.m. until today at 6 p.m.
Gumel vowed to ensure strict compliance with the order, warning that defaulters would be arrested and made to face the wrath of the law.
He said, “A 24-hour curfew order has been communicated by the state government via letter with reference no: K/SEC/H/435/T.1/153 dated 20th September 2023 taking effect from 6pm of Wednesday, 20th September to 6pm of Thursday, 21st September 2023.
Before the curfew was imposed, apprehensive traders had hurriedly locked up their shops across the major markets and shopping plazas as residents rushed home after the tribunal invalidated Yusuf’s election as Kano State governor.
The court ordered the withdrawal of the certificate of return from Yusuf and directed that a new one should be issued to Gawuna.
The panel had commenced proceedings via Zoom, transmitting the proceedings at the Miller Road venue of the tribunal.
The judgment came weeks after the lawyers of both parties made their closing arguments on behalf of their clients on August 21.
The court ruled that 165,663 votes of the governor were invalid.
According to the judge, the ballot papers for the 165,663 votes were not signed and stamped, therefore, they were invalid.
Read Also: Kano: Tribunal Sacks Abba Kabir, Declares Gawuna As Governor
The Independent National Electoral Commission had declared that the NNPP polled 1,019,602 votes to defeat the APC whose candidate scored 890,705 votes. The NNPP candidate thus won with a margin of 128,897 votes.
However, the APC filed a petition at the tribunal to challenge the results declared by the electoral body.
In its verdict, the tribunal also said the issue of sponsorship and party membership is an internal affair of the party.
Reacting to the judgment, the acting National Chairman of the NNPP, Abba Ali, said it was a replayed script of the 2019 governorship election in which the tribunal allegedly upturned the people’s mandate and awarded it to the loser.
While appealing to millions of its supporters in the state and across the country to remain calm and maintain the peace, the party vowed that the alleged lopsided judgment would not stand.
It alleged that the tribunal arrived at its judgment by deducting unfairly the votes of Yusuf by 165,663 and awarding it to the APC candidate, describing the judgment as laughable and a miscarriage of justice.
The counsel to the NNPP, Bashir Wada, said his clients would appeal against the judgment of the tribunal.
The Spokesperson for the NNPP Presidential Campaign Council, Ladipo Johnson, also said the party would appeal the verdict.
He said, “I have not seen the judgment but all I can say is that we are going to appeal it naturally.”
The spokesperson for the Agbor Major-led faction of the party, Abdulrazaq Abdulsalam, regretted the judgment, noting that the party still has other legal options it could explore to recover the mandate.
Meanwhile, the Kano governor, Yusuf, has said his supporters have rejected the judgment of the state election tribunal which declared Gawuna the winner of the March 18 governorship poll.
The governor, who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Sanusi Bature, said he would appeal the ruling of the tribunal, describing it as unfair.
He said, “Of course, we are going to appeal the judgment. We are rejecting the judgment because it is an unfair judgment and we have completely rejected it. We are going to appeal the judgment immediately.”