New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) has called on the National Judicial Council (NJC) to unravel the mystery and contradictions trailing the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the Appeal Court judgment delivered by a three-man panel led by Justices Moore Adumien on November 17, 2023 in the appeal no CA/KN/EP/GOV/KAN/34/2023.

The court had upheld the decision of the Kano State Election Petition Tribunal which nullified Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf’s election while adding that he (the governor) was not a member of the NNPP as of the time of the election.

Briefing the press in Abuja on Wednesday, the national secretary of NNPP, Dipo Olayioku, who stood in for the acting national chairman Abba Kawu Ali, said that the CTC obtained from the party’s lawyers clearly showed that the judgement delivered by the Honourable Justices was in favour of Governor Kabir Yusuf.

According to Olayioku, page 67 of the extant judgment in its (Appeal Court) conclusive findings not only set aside the Kano Tribunal’s ruling of September 20, 2023, but also awarded the sum of N1 million to the governor who was the appellant.

He said the governor is a bonafide member of the NNPP and his membership was never in doubt as he passed through all the normal processes as demanded by INEC.

“At page 67 of the extant judgment in its conclusive findings held inter alia: in the circumstances, I resolve all the issues in favour of the appellant. The judgment of the Tribunal in the petition no: EPT/KN/GOV/01/2023 between the All Progressive Congress (APC) Vs INEC and 2 Others delivered on the 20th day of September 2023 is hereby set aside. The sum of N1,000,000.00 (one million naira only) is hereby awarded as costs in favour of the appellant (Abba Kabir Yusuf) and against the 1st respondent (APC).

“We are an interested party. We own the platform on which Engineer Abba Kabir Yusuf ran for the election and was declared the winner. We are calling on the National Judicial Council (NJC), to without delay, commence an investigation to unravel what happened in the matter. Also, we are calling on eminent members of the bench (both retired and serving) and the bar, to be interested in what happened that we have the kind of scenario presented in the CTC of the judgment of the Appeal Court.

“In addition, we call on leaders, elders and other major stakeholders in the Nigerian project, including the media, to step into this matter to avert the danger this type of signal from the judiciary portends for our democracy in particular and our country in general. It is clear to us that the only conclusion that can be drawn from this judicial debacle is that the average reasonable person can only conclude that the Court of Appeal changed the judgment after they had concluded deliberations on the matter and then mistakenly left the original conclusion during the cutting and pasting process,” Olayioku said.

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