JUST IN: S’Court reserves judgement in Kano guber dispute

The Supreme Court has reserved judgement in the Kano state governorship election dispute between governor Abba Kabir Yusuf and Nasiru Gawuna.

A five-member panel of justices headed by Justice Inyang Okoro on Thursday reserved ruling after listening to lawyers in the matter.

Also, the court urged counsels involved in the case to meet and agree on which of the nine appeals and cross appeals that should be heard, with the outcome binding on the remaining eight.

Yusuf had appealed the November 17 judgment of the Court of Appeal, which upturned his victory in the March 19 governorship poll.

Recall that a three-member panel of justices of the appellate court led by Justice Moore A. Adumein upheld the appeal of Gawuna.

The panel held that Yusuf was not a registered member of NNPP and, therefore, ineligible to contest the election.

However, in the long argument before the apex court today, parties raised issues concerning the jurisdiction of the court in political party membership of a candidate.

The court was also notified of the contradictions in the CTC judgment, which upheld the governor’s election and awarded the sum of N1 million in his favour.

The lawyers also argued over whether the court could “visit the mistake of INEC’s failure to sign over 160,000 ballot papers on the voters in Kano State.”