The Court of petition in Abuja reserved decision on Monday in Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf’s petition against his removal by the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal.
Remember that on September 20, 2023, a three-judge panel led by Justice Oluyemi Akintan Osadebay fired Yusuf.
Yusuf’s ballots were found void by the tribunal because they were not signed or stamped by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
However, the main lawyer for Yusuf, Wole Olanipekun, SAN, requested the appeal court on Monday to overturn the tribunal’s decision.
According to the senior lawyer, this is the first time in history that an election has been annulled due to non-signing of the back of voting papers.
He claimed that the tribunal erred, and that it was the first time that a political party filed a case without include its candidate as a party in the petition, and that the candidate was pronounced the victor of the election.
However, Akin Olujimi, SAN, counsel for the APC, maintained that the Appeal Courts indicated unequivocally that not signing ballots constituted election fraud.
Following that, the appellate court panel reserved decision, advising the parties that a date will be given to them.
