Fresh protests rock Kano over Appeal Court judgment

A wave of fresh protests have broken out in the Kano metropolis as thousands of residents on Wednesday, trooped into the streets protesting the sacking of Governor Abba Yusuf by the Appeal Court.

The appellate court had, on September 20, upheld the verdict of the State Election Petition Tribunal led by Justice Oluyemi Akintan Osadebay which sacked Yusuf and declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC),Nasir Ganuwa, the authentic winner of the March 18 governorship election in the state.

The tribunal had ruled that 165,663 votes garnered by Yusuf of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), were invalid on the grounds that they were not signed or stamped by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), thus reducing his votes to 853,939 while those of APC rival remained at 890,705.

Yusuf who was not satisfied with the tribunal judgement, took his case to the Appeal Court only for the appellate court to uphold the verdict.

Read also: Protests rock Kano over Appeal Court judgement on governorship election

With the outcome of the appeal court, there has been tension in the state as several groups who are in support of Yusuf have been holding sporadic protests against the ruling which they see as a travesty of justice.

Different groups had also reportedly fixed protests but were dispelled by security operatives who prevented them from going ahead with the demonstrations to prevent break down of law and order.

However, despite concerted efforts by the police and other security agencies, the protesters defied all warnings and took over the streets in the city to protest the ruling of the appeal court.

The protesters were seen carrying placards as chanting slogans like “We will not accept it”; “We will not allow it”; “Kano belongs to Abba”; “Our mandate must be restored”; “Injustice exposed in CTC”; among others.

It was gathered that efforts by
security operatives to disperse the protesters were abortive as they stood their ground and refused to back off.

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