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The Secretary to the Kano State Government, Dr. Abdullahi Baffa Bichi, has reiterated that Abba Kabir Yusuf, the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP candidate, emerged victorious in the last gubernatorial election in Kano with a substantial margin.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Testifying as the sole defense witness for Kano State Governor (2nd Respondent) before the Kano Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, Bichi insisted that Yusuf is a bonafide member of the NNPP.
The All Progressive Congress (APC) is challenging INEC’s declaration of Yusuf as the winner of the election conducted on March 18.
The petitioner seeks to establish that NNPP has no candidate, claiming that Yusuf was not in their register of voters submitted to INEC at the time of the election.
During the continuation of the hearing, Yusuf, through his counsel R.A. Lawal SAN, called Bichi as a witness.
Bichi testified that he had submitted his Written Testimony on Oath before the tribunal as evidence.
Under cross-examination by the petitioner’s counsel, Offiong Offiong SAN, Bichi stated that Yusuf was declared the winner of the election with 1,019,602 votes, while the candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna, scored 890,705 votes, resulting in a margin of 128,897 votes.
Bichi also clarified that Abba Kabir Yusuf is a bonafide member of NNPP, providing details of the registration process and membership card issued by the national body of the party.
He said, “The second respondent is a bonafide member of the NNPP with registration number: NNPP/HQ/KN/GWL/DS/001.
“The membership card was issued by the national body of the NNPP through the state chapter, the local government chapter, and the ward chapter, and it’s signed by the national and ward chairmen.”
He further explained his role as the State Returning Agent for the second and third respondents at the INEC Kano headquarters level, highlighting that the election rules and regulations do not require the list to have pictures, but rather a photo ID as per Section 9 sub C of the Electoral Act.
“I acted as returning agent for the second and third respondents at the level of headquarters of INEC in the state and not at the local government. State returning agents of INEC collated this result from all the local governments at the state Coalition centres.
After his testimony, Bichi was discharged by the Tribunal. However, during cross-examination, there was a mild drama when counsel to the petitioner tendered some documents as exhibits.
The admissibility of these documents was objected to by INEC’s counsel and counsel to Abba Kabir Yusuf and NNPP.
The Tribunal, led by Justice Oluyemi Akintan Osadebay, adjourned the matter until July 24th for NNPP (3rd Respondent) to open its defense.
Kano Governorship Tribunal: Bichi insists Abba Kabir, NNPP defeated APC’s Gawuna
