Desmond Mgboh, Kano
An appeal court sitting in Kaduna has set aside the judgment of a Federal High Court in Kano which had invalidated the candidacy of Engineer Abba Kabir Yusuf as the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party for 2019 governorship election in Kano State.
The court led by Justice Tanko Hussaini agreed with the prayers of the appellate that the plaintiff, Ibrahim Al’amin Little did not participate in the October 2, 2018, primary election conducted by the PDP in Kano State.
The court also held that the appellant’s name was not included among the defendants in the original case, insisting that the lower court ought not to have entertained the case.
It would be recalled that Alh. Ibrahim Al’amin, one of the PDP governorship aspirants in Kano State, had approached an Abuja High Court challenging the candidacy of Engineer Abba K. Yusuf on the grounds that the exercise violated the provisions of the constitution of the party.
The case was later transferred to a Federal High Court sitting in Kano, which nullified the governorship primary election of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Kano State.
The court presided by Justice Lewis Alaoge, had consequentially, ordered the party to conduct a fresh governorship primary election to determine its candidate for the elections within 14 days from the day of the judgment.
Meanwhile, Yusuf, alongside the PDP had last week submitted a 1,625-page petition challenging Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje’s victory at the poll.
Forty-eight lawyers, including six Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SANs) led by Chief Asiwaju Awomolo SAN and former Attorney General of the Federation Kanu Agabi are set to defend him before the election petition tribunal in Kano.