Kano state governor, Abba Yusuf on Saturday, has announced that he will approached the Supreme Court, against his sack as governor by the Court of Appeal.
Speaking to the people of the state, Yusuf said that the government had taken necessary measures to ensure the security of their lives and properties as a cardinal responsibility.
“I hereby inform the people of Kano State and well-meaning Nigerians that based on consensus of our stakeholders we have instructed our lawyers to appeal against the judgment at the Supreme Court.
“We are optimistic that the Supreme Court will set aside these miscarriages of justice by the Election Petition Tribunal and the Appeal Court.
“We are also optimistic that the Supreme Court will reaffirm our mandate given by the people of Kano State,’’ he said in a statement issued by his media aide, Mr Bature Dawakin-Tofa.
The governor also assured that the temporary setback would not deter his administration from its commitment to continue with its laudable projects and programmes to restore the lost glory of the state.
According to him, he would instead roll out more initiatives to deliver dividends of democracy to citizens and residents of the state.
He called on people of the state and other well-meaning Nigerians to continue to pray for Kano for God’s mercy and protection to save the state from injustice and from mischief makers.
Recall that the Court of Appeal in Abuja in Friday, nullified Yusuf’s election in a unanimous ruling by the three-man panel on the ground that he was not a valid candidate in the March 18 gubernatorial election.
The court stated that evidence presented by parties convincingly established that Yusuf was not a member of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) at the time of the election.
It held that this made Yusuf ineligible to contest the governorship election under the 1999 Constitution as amended, since he was not validly sponsored by the NNPP.
“A person must be a member of a political party before he can be sponsored for an election.
“Sponsorship without membership is like putting something on nothing, Justice M. U. Adumeh, panel chairman stated while delivering the judgment.
The appellate court consequently affirmed the earlier judgment of the Kano State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which had nullified Yusuf’s election.
In a virtual judgment read on Sept. 20, the Election Petition Tribunal ousted Yusuf from office and declared Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna of the All Progressive Congress (APC) as the winner of the election.