Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has faulted the verdict by the Kano Governorship Election Petition Tribunal nullifying the victory of Governor Abba Yusuf.
Falana, who spoke on Channels TV on Friday, said that the tribunal should not have punished voters for the errors of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
He said, “You cannot punish voters for the errors of INEC. That was what recently happened in Kano, where 165,000 votes were said to have not been marked by INEC officials.”
Falana added, “We are asking our judges to embrace justice—substantial justice—in a way that you cannot punish voters for the errors of INEC. You cannot challenge the validity of the ballot papers.”
The lawyer said that the judges would have to go back to the drawing table on the matter.
The Kano Governorship Election Petition Tribunal had earlier nullified the election of Yusuf and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to withdraw the certificate of return issued to him.
The tribunal also affirmed the election of Yusuf Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress as the duly elected governor of the state.
