The Appellate Court, on Wednesday, restated its order that sacked Governor Abba Yusuf and dismissed the clerical error in the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgment delivered on the dispute in the March 18 Kano State governorship election.
The Court’s Chief Registrar, Umar Mohammed Bangari, maintained that the said “clerical error”, did not in any way, invalidate or change the unanimous conclusion of the three-member panel of justices that decided the appeal.
The Chief Registrar said the clerical error would be rectified, once parties in the matter file a formal application to that effect.
Besides, he stressed that Order 23 Rule 4 of the Court of Appeal Handbook, empowered the court to correct any clerical error, once detected by the court or any of the parties in the matter.
He added that contrary to insinuations in social media, the judgment of the court remained valid.
“What happened in the part of the judgment is just a mere clerical error that ought not to draw any issue.
“The Court is empowered to correct such clerical error and that will be done as appropriate,” Bangari added.
The NNPP in a press conference it held on Wednesday, alleged that the judgement of the appellate court that sacked its candidate and winner of the governorship election, Yusuf, was doctored.
It alleged that because the verdict was compromised, it led to a change in the conclusion that was originally reached by the panel.
It will be recalled that the appellate court had on November 17, sacked Governor Yusuf of the NNPP and declared the candidate of the All-Progressives Congress, APC, Nasiru Gawuna, as the valid winner of the governorship poll.
The appellate court further awarded a cost of N1m against the sacked governor, maintaining that a proof of evidence that was adduced before it, established that the governor was not a member of the NNPP, as at the time the election held.
According to the court, Yusuf, under section 177(c) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, was not qualified to contest the governorship election since he was not validly sponsored by the NNPP.
“A person must be a member of a political party before he can be sponsored for an election.
“Sponsorship without membership is like putting something on nothing,” the court held in its lead judgement that was delivered by Justice M. U. Adumeh.
However, both Governor Yusuf and the NNPP had since vowed to approach the Supreme Court to set aside the judgement which they said occasioned a grave miscarriage of justice against them.
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