The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved judgment in the appeal by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State challenging the ruling of the Appeal Court that sacked him from office.
The Justice Inyang Okoro-led five-member panel of judges reserved their decision after hearing closing arguments from both parties.
Yusuf and the New Nigeria People Party had filed an appeal against the Court of Appeal’s November 17 ruling, which declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Yusuf Gawuna, as the winner of the March 26, 2023 governorship poll.
The PUNCH reports that Yusuf, whose sacking by the electoral tribunal was upheld by the Court of Appeal, vowed to reclaim his mandate at the Supreme Court.
The appeal court sitting in Abuja upheld the ruling of the tribunal that sacked Yusuf and declared Gawuna of APC as the winner of the March 18 election.
Delivering judgment on the matter on Friday, the appeal court held that Yusuf was not qualified to contest the election.
The three-member panel led by Justice M.A Adumeh held that Yusuf was not in the membership register of his political party.
Citing a provision of the electoral act, he said a party must have the names of its registered members both in hard and soft copies.
He also said that Yusuf did not put up any resistance against the allegation.
“If you claim you are a member of a party is not logical to say so yourself rather than by proxy? the judge asked.
He said Section 134 of the electoral act allowed the court to entertain an averment on the qualification of a candidate in an election.
