Buba Galadima, a prominent figure in the NNPP (New Nigeria Peoples Party), has responded to the decision by the Kano Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which ruled against Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf and declared Nasiru Gawuna of the APC (All Progressives Congress) as the winner of the election. In his reaction, Galadima raised concerns about the justification for the APC’s complaint regarding the margin of victory in approximately 1,296 polling units.
Galadima argued that the APC’s claims lack merit, primarily due to the limited number of witnesses they presented in court. He noted that despite the suppression of Abba Kabir Yusuf’s votes to around 600,000, he still maintained a margin of 128,000, leading to his declaration as the winner by INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission). The crux of the APC’s complaint revolved around the contention that INEC should not have declared Abba Kabir Yusuf the winner because his margin of victory was less than the number of allegedly induced canceled votes, which amounted to approximately 200,000 votes.
Buba Galadima pointed out that the APC brought forward witnesses to support their claims, but their focus was on only 32 polling units out of the contested 1,296. He explained that before witnesses can provide evidence in a tribunal, they must provide specific details, including their names, photographs, and the polling units they intend to complain about. Galadima raised doubts about the credibility of these witnesses, suggesting that they were not agents in the polling units they were contesting.
In his words; ”Despite the suppression of the votes of Abba Kabir Yusuf to the tail end of 600,000 votes, he was still able to make that margin of 128,000. That was why he was declared by INEC. So they went to Court, issues were raised, issues were addressed. And they complained that INEC shouldn’t have declared Abba Kabir Yusuf because the margin of victory was less than the induced canceled votes of about 200,000.
He further said that; “they brought in witnesses and they [APC] complained about 1296 polling units but when they brought witnesses, they were only able to bring 32 witnesses complaining about 32 polling units. Before you come to the tribunal to give evidence, you must have uploaded your name, your picture, and which polling unit that you want to complain about. Those who came as witnesses were never agents in those polling units.”
Leave a Comment