A Chieftain of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, (NNPP), Ambassador Olufemi Ajadi Oguntoyinbo has described the judgement of the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja which sacked Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf as a temporary, saying the judgement its about political internal affairs and it cannot stand the test of time.
Ajadi who is set to pay solidarity visit to Abba Yusuf in Kano, while reacting to the judgement on Friday, he said the wish of millions of people of Kano will stand at the end of the day, maintaining that his claim of four plus four (4 + 4) is certain for Abba Yusuf of NNPP in Kano state.
It could be recalled that the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on Friday affirmed the tribunal judgment which declared the All Progressive Congress candidate, Nasiru Gawuna winner of the governorship 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.
However in his reaction to the judgement, Ajadi who contested the governorship of Ogun State on the platform of the NNPP in the 2023 election said Yusuf will be affirmed as the Kano State Governor by the Supreme Court.
He said he wondered how can argument at tribunal was different at the Appeal Court.
He maintained that what Appeal Court ruled upon his been argued in many cases and Court but the rulings on those cases were judged as an intra party, which doesn’t concern any other person or party, why that of Kano is different.
He called on the good people of Kano State to remain calm and avoid provocation from the opposition who are enjoying a temporary victory.
According to Ajadi, “I received the news of today’s judgement as a rude shock. But I see it as a temporary setback as the judgement cannot stand the test of time.
“It is surprising that the judgements of the two courts are even different. While the Tribunal led by Justice Oluyemi Osadebay nullified the election of Governor Abba Yusuf by declaring 165, 663 of his votes invalid.
“The tribunal held that the ballot papers were not signed nor stamped by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
“The Court of Appeal in its judgement held that Yusuf was not in the membership register of his political party, which has been argued in the past and the judgement was that membership of a candidate rest on the party and its memeber, why now is the business of APC, it is intra party affairs.
“This is surprising, to say a candidate of the party, that campaigned across the nook and crannies of the state and was voted for overwhelmingly by the people is not a member of the party is unbelievable.
“I urged His Excellency, Governor Abba Yusuf to remain calm, as this judgement cannot stand the test of time.
“I also pledged with our presidential candidate, Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwakwanso to remain calm and urged our supporters nationwide to remain calm.
“The people of Kano know that our party is the leading party in the state and this has been demonstrated in the other elections.
“NNPP has the highest members of the State Assembly, highest members of the national assembly from the state and we are with the grassroots.
“I will be in Kano soon to pay solidarity visit to the people’s governor, Abba Yusuf”.
