Former Kano State Governor and All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, sheds light on the missteps made by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf and NNPP presidential candidate Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, resulting in the APC’s triumph at the Tribunal and Appeal Court for the March 18 governorship election.
In the election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Yusuf the winner, but the APC contested, alleging irregularities. The State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal subsequently nullified 165,663 votes for Yusuf, citing unsigned or unstamped ballot papers. Yusuf’s votes were reduced to 853,939, while the APC’s Nasir Ganuwa’s stood at 890,705, with the tribunal declaring Ganuwa the legitimate winner.
Unsatisfied, Yusuf and NNPP challenged the ruling at the Appeal Court, which recently upheld the tribunal’s decision, citing Yusuf’s non-membership in NNPP at the time of the contest.
Ganduje, addressing party supporters in Kano, revealed that the APC strategically utilized the mistakes made by Yusuf, Kwankwaso, and NNPP. He highlighted Yusuf’s defection from PDP to NNPP in 2022, emphasizing their oversight regarding INEC’s closed acceptance of nomination forms.
Ganduje remarked, “They were blind and uneducated. They went into the ring without making careful observation of this. They did not know that we laid in wait. We took the file, submitted it to Dr. Nasiru Yusuf Gwuna, and told him to hold it tight. When we filed a petition at the Kano governorship election tribunal, we told the court that they were not fielded by the party.”