The All Progressives Congress (APC) has declared the trending Certified True Copy (CTC) judgment from the Court of Appeal affirming Abba Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) as the duly elected governor of Kano State to be an error.
Speaking at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, Prof. Abdulkarim Kanna, the APC National Legal Adviser, addressed newsmen on Wednesday, emphasizing the party’s stance.
Amidst confusion in Kano state, the emergence of the CTC of the Court of Appeal judgment on the state governorship election caused a stir. The widely reported verdict of the court on Nov. 17 indicated that the appellate court upheld the decision of the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sacking Gov. Abba Yusuf.
Contradicting this, the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Haruna Isa-Dederi, argued that the CTC of the judgment showed that Yusuf’s victory at the poll was affirmed by the appeal court, as indicated in the written judgment, setting aside the tribunal’s decision for lacking in merit.
However, the APC National Legal Adviser described the development as a typographical error that would be corrected by the court. “We woke up this morning and we are confronted with media reports… where the controversy was identified in the released CTC true copy of the judgment of the Court of Appeal…,” he said, acknowledging the widespread confusion.
“However, those of us who are lawyers know that typographic errors often occur in certified true copies of court judgments… it will not be the first time such typographic mistakes will be seen in judgments,” Mr. Kanna added, pointing out that it wasn’t unprecedented and can be rectified.
Highlighting the legal perspective, Mr. Kanna emphasized that the pronouncement by the three justices at the Appeal Court who concurred with the lead judgment was adequate confirmation rather than the false narratives trending on social media. He clarified that the merits and other facts of the judgment of the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, which was delivered on Sept. 28, were upheld by the Appeal Court.
Reassuring the party’s stance, Mr. Kanna affirmed that the Appeal Court upheld the tribunal’s decision, which declared APC governorship candidate Yusuf Gawuna as the duly elected governor of Kano state, insisting that any errors would be addressed.
The APC national legal adviser concluded by affirming that the party would formally request the CTC of the Appeal Court judgment, expressing confidence that any errors would have been rectified.
NAN
