The Kano State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has filed a petition before the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal challenging the declaration of Abba Yusuf of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) as winner of the March 18, 2023 governorship poll.

The APC said Yusuf was not qualified to contest the election as his name was not on the list of members of the NNPP submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

In a five-volume petition filed, the APC cited irregularities and alleged violations of electoral laws. The petition has piqued public interest, and many are keenly following the proceedings at the Tribunal.

The party also alleged that the NNPP did not win the election with the majority of lawful votes, claiming that some of the votes cast for them were invalid.

In addition, the APC accused the Kano Resident Electoral Commissioner of declaring Yusuf the winner erroneously, as the margin of lead was not higher than the votes cancelled. As such, the party argued that the election should have been declared inconclusive.

The APC also asked the Tribunal to declare that the NNPP had no candidate as Yusuf was not in its register of voters submitted to INEC.

The APC also urged the Tribunal to declare Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna or the APC as the winner of the election, depending on the outcome of the votes cast after the invalid votes are removed from the lawful scores of the NNPP.

Interestingly, the APC’s governorship candidate was not joined as a party in the petition, raising questions about his concession of defeat. The respondents have 21 days to respond to the petition after court processes are served on them.

At the March 18 poll, the NNPP candidate scored 1,019,602 votes to defeat his closest contender, Gawuna of the APC who polled 890,705 votes.