Ruling party closes case without witnesses

National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal in Kano State has upheld Senator Rufai Hanga of New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) as the duly elected senator for Kano Central.

The tribunal equally dismissed the petition filed by All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Abdulsalam Zaura, challenging Hanga’s victory.

The presiding Judge, Justice I.P. Chima awarded N600,000 against the petitioner for wasting the court’s time.
MEANWHILE, against its initial submission before the Kano Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, NNPP, yesterday, closed its case without recourse to witnesses.

Defending its victory at the March 18, 2023 election in Kano, NNPP and its candidate, Governor Abba Yusuf, had informed the tribunal that it would tender evidence from 450 witnesses.

Independent National Electoral Commission INEC (1st respondent) and Yusuf (2nd) also called no witnesses.

The petitioner (APC) is challenging INEC for declaring NNPP’s Yusuf winner of the election. It is also querying the qualification and membership status of Yusuf in NNPP, insisting that he was not duly registered.

At the resumed sitting, yesterday, counsel to NNPP, Tijjani Yahaya, informed the tribunal that following careful review of evidence so far laid by the petitioners’ witnesses, the third respondent deemed it necessary to jettison its witnesses.

Although, lead counsel to the petitioner, Prof. Sam Erugo (SAN), did not object to the respondents’ decision, one of the senior lawyers for the petitioner, a former Attorney General of Kano, Abdullahi Lawal, insisted that inability of the respondents to present more than one witness is an evidence of defeat.

Lawal told journalists that the petitioner had substantiated its case with 32 credible witnesses.

Closing the case, the three-member panel led by Justice Oluyemi Akintan-Osadebay ordered all parties to file their written addresses on or before August 15 and adjourned the case till August 21 for adoption of final written address.