By Musa Baba Adamu
The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has revealed that it had concluded plans to appeal the judgement of the Court of Appeal, which overturned the victory of Governor Kabir Yusuf of Kano State.
The Appeal Court nullified the election of the governor on Friday, saying he was not qualified to contest the March 18 poll.
According to the court, Governor Yusuf was not a member of the NNPP when the election was conducted.
Speaking on the Appeal Court ruling, Alhaji Abba Ali, the acting national chairman of NNPP, told journalists at a news conference on Saturday in Abuja that the ruling that Yusuf was not a member of the party was a mischief.
Ali said that the judgement was a miscarriage of justice, saying that Yusuf was given a popular mandate by the people of Kano State.
He said the party had already briefed its lawyers on the issue.
“Believing in the credibility of the judiciary and its ability to correct any error of judgement by the lower court, our party approached the Court of Appeal and prayed the appellate court to set aside the unjust ruling of the lower court.
“To our greatest shock and consternation, the Court of Appeal on Friday, Nov. 17, delivered a convoluted judgement that was anchored around their erroneous belief that Yusuf was not a member of the NNPP,” he said.
He wondered how Yusuf could have been successfully nominated on the INEC portal if his name was not submitted with the NNPP membership card.
