The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano State has filed a petition before the State Election Petition Tribunal, stating that the New Nigeria People Party (NNPP) and its candidate, Abba Kabir Yusuf, were not rightfully declared the winner of the just-concluded governorship election in the state.
According to the APC, Yusuf scored only 178,374 votes, and the 1,019,602 votes declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were inflated by 896,022 unlawful votes.
The APC accused the NNPP and its candidate of benefiting from unlawful ballot papers that did not have the signature, stamp, and date of the election, which were used to cast votes in 32 local government areas of the state. The party stated that if the unlawful votes are deducted from Yusuf’s declared score, he would only have had 178,374 votes.
In its petition, the APC claimed that its candidate, Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna, actually scored 890,705 lawful votes, and therefore, should have been declared the rightful winner of the election. The party has called for a recount of the affected local government areas’ ballot papers during the trial.
The Kano State governorship election held on March 18, 2023, was won by the NNPP candidate, Abba Kabir Yusuf, who was declared the winner by INEC with 1,019,602 votes. The APC’s candidate, Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna, scored 890,705 votes, while other candidates had lower scores.
The dispute over the election result has generated controversy, with the APC alleging that the election was marred by irregularities, including the use of unlawful ballot papers. The party has called on the tribunal to declare Gawuna the rightful winner of the election.
The Kano State governorship election result has been challenged by the APC, who alleges that the NNPP’s victory was not legitimate. The party has called for a recount of the ballot papers in the affected local government areas, claiming that the unlawful votes inflated the NNPP candidate’s declared score. The tribunal will determine the validity of the APC’s claims and the rightful winner of the election