Appeal Court have requested Lawyers to return CTC of kano verdict for correction – Prof Odinkalu

Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, a law professor and former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), has stated that the Court of Appeal has reportedly asked lawyers engaged in the Kano State governorship election case to surrender the Certified True Copy of its verdict.

Platinum Times reported on Tuesday that the Court of Appeal created confusion in its decision by resolving all issues in the appeal in favor of the appellant, Governor Kabir Yusuf of the New Nigerian People’s Party (NNPP), and overturning the Kano Governorship Election Tribunal’s decision to sack the Governor.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) was also ordered by the appellate court to pay Governor Yusuf N1 million.

According to the court record, the appeal court overturned the electoral tribunal’s verdict in the APC’s petition, PT/KN/GOV/01/2023, between the APC and the governor, and addressed all points in the appeal against the first respondent.

In another sentence, the court dismissed the appeal as meritless.

Reacting to the court document on X (previously Twitter), Odinkalu, who bemoaned the high level degradation of Nigeria’s legal system, stated that the only way to comprehend the Appeal Court inconsistency was that the court modified the verdict after the judges had completed deliberations.

He said,

“When we say the judiciary in Nigeria is crooked, people wonder how so. Look: the Court of Appeal in the Kano governorship case resolved all the issues “in favour of the appellant & against the 1st Respondent.” Yet it found the appeal lacking in merit & liable to be dismissed. Explain!

“The only way to understand or explain this is that the Court of Appeal changed the judgment after they had concluded deliberations. If this does not persuade people as to how bad things are, I don’t know what will.

“I am hearing this evening that the court has been asking the lawyers to return the judgment for “correction”. But this does not fall within the ambit of the Slip Rule. This is Judicial Corruption on the face of the record.”

It had been reported on November 17 that the Court of Appeal in Abuja upheld the ruling of the Election Petitions Tribunal sacking Governor Yusuf of Kano State.

The court had said that the Appeal Court agreed with the judgment of the tribunal, ruling that the fielding of Abba Yusuf was in breach of the Electoral Law as he was not qualified to contest that Election.

The verdict comes nearly two months after the Kano Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, on September 20 sacked Yusuf and declared the APC candidate, Nasiru Gawuna, as the winner of the March 18 election.

Part of the Appeal Court ruling according to the CTC read, “I will conclude by stating that the live issues in this appeal are hereby resolved in favour of the 1st respondent and against the appellant.

“In the circumstances, I resolve all the issues in favour of the appellant and against the 1st respondent.

“Therefore, I find no merit in this appeal which is liable to be and is hereby dismissed.”

(Credit: Sahara Reporters)