The New Nigeria People’s Party has commented on the controversy that has trailed the Appeal Court ruling that earlier saw Governor Abba Yusuf sacked, stating that it was a “scandalous judicial debacle.”
The Certified True Copy of the judgment, which was made public on Tuesday, contradicted what was read at the Court of Appeal Court last Friday
In an appearance on Arise TV’s The Morning Show on Wednesday , the spokesperson for the NNPP, Ladipo Johnson, said the matter would ultimately be resolved by the Supreme Court.
He acknowledged that there are discrepancies between the information that was read out last Friday and the contents of the official CTC report.
“It is very unfortunate that we have come to this low state as a country regarding the judiciary. I am a legal practitioner, and it hurts me; it pains the heart that this is the sort of situation that we find ourselves in.
“You just have a 14-day window to lodge your appeal at the Supreme Court, so when you deliver judgment on Friday and you don’t give the CTC to counsel till some five days later, it really makes no sense,” Johnson said.
The PUNCH reports that the verdict of the court last Friday indicated that the Appeal Court upheld the decision of the petitions tribunal sacking Governor Abba Yusuf.
However, confusion arose on Tuesday when the CTC of the court judgment on the state governorship election surfaced, four days after the judgment had been delivered.
Our correspondent obtained a copy of the CTC, shedding light on a potential mix-up in the conclusions.
The governor, who was sacked by the state governorship election petition tribunal, is the appellant at the Court of Appeal
The All Progressives Congress is the first respondent, the Independent National Electoral Commission is the second respondent, and the NNPP is the third respondent.
Below are the last five contradictory paragraphs of the CTC:
“In the circumstances, I resolve all the issues in favour of the appellant (Abba Yusuf) and against the first respondent (APC).
Then it said, “I will conclude by stating that the live issues in this appeal are hereby resolved in favour of the 1st respondent (APC) and against the appellant (Governor Abba Yusuf)”.
“Therefore, I find no merit in this appeal (which was filed by Yusuf) which is liable to be and is hereby dismissed.”
“The judgment of the tribunal in Petition No.: EPT/KN/GOV/01/2023 between: AL PROGRESSIVES CONGRESS (APC) v. INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION & 2 ORS. delivered on the 20th day of September, 2023 is hereby set aside.”
“The sum of N1,000,000.00 (one million naira only) is hereby awarded as costs in favour of the appellant(Abba Yusuf) and against the 1st respondent(APC).”
The NNPP spokesperson lamented, saying, “How is it that in the CTC signed by the judges, you have that conclusion? Were they two different judgments typed? Leave the facts and the law to the Supreme Court; what we are saying is that the optics are bad, and you cannot stop anyone from saying they have no confidence in the judiciary.
“When the Court of Appeal comes out with that, you begin to know that in this modern day of computer produced document, something must have been there. Was it cancelled? Was part of it removed? Are they going to tell us it’s a clerical error? There is something called a slip rule in law where you can recall your judgment if there is a small error. This is not a small error.
“The Court of Appeal must let Nigerians know how that happened and how they couldn’t get us a CTC for about four days.”
He added, “If we have an unbiased panel, then justice will be done for the millions of people in Kano who do not understand these technicalities. All they know is that they are being cheated.”
The PUNCH had earlier reported that the three-member panel of the court determined that Yusuf was not on his political party’s membership list.
It stated that a party must hold the names of its registered members in both hard and soft copies, citing a clause of the Electoral Act.
Addressing the issue, Johnson said, “A man who is not a member, can he have a membership card? But these are all questions for the lawyers at the Supreme Court to treat.”
