Supreme Court to rule on Jigawa APC's guber ticket tomorrow as A'Court upholds Kaduna's

The Supreme Court will end the battle for the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship in Jigawa state tomorrow. A five-member panel, led by Judge Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, set the date for judgment yesterday after hearing arguments from the parties in the appeal filed by former House of Representatives Minority Leader Farouk Adamu Aliyu and the cross-appeal by the sitting deputy. governor, Umar Namadi.

Thanks to his lawyer, Prince Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi (SAN), Namadi had won the legal battles before the Federal High Court, Dutse and the Kano Court of Appeal.

But Aliyu is, by his appeal marked: SC/1453/2022, challenging the November 4, 2022 judgment of the Kano Division of the Court of Appeal, dismissed his earlier appeal and affirmed the election of Namadi as candidate for governor of the ruling party in the state.

A three-member panel, chaired by Judge Ita Mbaba, in its decision unanimously rejected Aliyu's appeal against the September 13, 2022 judgment of Judge Hassan Dikko of the Federal High Court in Dutse , for lack of foundation.

Judge Dikko had, in the judgment, concluded among other things that Aliyu did not have the locus standi to sue and added that he had failed to prove his case with credible evidence.

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However, in the cross-appeal filed by Fagbemi, Namadi challenges part of the Court of Appeal's judgment which overturned the trial court's decision that Aliyu lacked locus standi for filing the complaint, which was not considered a pre-election case.

In adopting his client's brief, Fagbemi urged the Supreme Court to dismiss Aliyu's appeal and allow Namadi's cross-appeal. The elder argued the appeals court erred in exercising jurisdiction over Aliyu's appeal, which stemmed from "an ill-constituted action". Aliyu's lawyer, Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), challenged, asking the court to allow his client's appeal.

ALSO, the Kaduna State Court of Appeal yesterday dismissed an appeal against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the APC and its gubernatorial candidate, Uba Sani, by New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP). Kaduna APC's legal representative, Sule Shu'aibu, said in a statement, "I am pleased to report once again that NNPP Appeal No. CA/K/293/2022 Vs. INEC and the APC in the Kaduna Divisional Court of Appeal, seeking to disqualify our candidate for governor and the 34 candidates for the National Assembly in the upcoming general elections, have just been dismissed. in due time. While congratulating all of us, I would like to express our gratitude to all of you for your continued prayers and support to the legal team. “It should be recalled that following the judgment of the Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna , which ruled that the case filed by the NNPP and its gubernatorial candidate, Senator Suleiman Othman Hunkuyi, against the INEC for listing Senator Uba Sani as a candidate for the governorship of the APC and 34 candidates for Kaduna State constituencies is prohibited, the party and its gubernatorial candidate had challenged the decision in the Court of Appeals. “The NNPP and its gubernatorial candidate claimed in their complaint that the APC, as a party, failed to hold a valid block convention that produced delegates who participated in the primaries that produced the candidate. for governor and candidates for the state House of Assembly and should not have been listed. as such for the general elections of 2023.”