The Kano Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has sacked Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, declaring the All Progressives Congress’ Nasiru Gawuna winner of the March 18 election.
The panel members were not physically in court. The judgment was transmitted virtually via Zoom, a teleconference service.
A member of the Kano executive council had threatened to kill members of the panel if they ruled against Yusuf. But he was promptly fired by the Kano governor.
The ruling came weeks after lawyers of both parties made their closing arguments on behalf of their clients on 21 August.
The Independent National Electoral Commission had declared that the NNPP polled 1,019,602 votes to defeat the APC with its candidate, Nasir Gawuna, who scored 890,705 votes. The NNPP candidate thus won with a margin of 128,897 votes.
However, the APC filed a petition at the tribunal to challenge the results declared by the electoral body.
The three-man panel, on Wednesday, ordered the withdrawal of certificate of return which INEC presented to Yusuf, and directed a certificate of return to be issued to Gawuna.
The court deducted 165,663 votes from Yusuf as invalid, stating that the ballot papers (165,663) were not stamped or signed and therefore declared invalid.