The Court of Appeal, Abuja, on Monday sacked Musa Ilyasu Kwankwaso of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a member of the House of Representatives in the Kura/Madobi/Garun Malam Federal Constituency of Kano State.
The three-man panel led by Justice Tunde Oyebamiji delivered the verdict in an appeal filed by the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) candidate, Yusuf Umar Datti.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the APC candidate as the winner on February 27.
The NNPP candidate, thereafter, challenged the INEC’s declaration at the national and state assembly election, citing fraud and non-compliance with the electoral act in the conduct of the election.
The tribunal, however, dismissed the petition for lack of merit.
Dissatisfied with the verdict, Datti approached the appellate court to set it aside.
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In its ruling, the court held that the NNPP candidate’s appeal had merit and duly accepted it.
The panel declared that the tribunal was wrong to have counted the date of the appellant’s resignation on the date of his party primary.
It stressed that Section 77 of the Electoral Act was misapplied by the tribunal as the issue of membership is an internal affair of political parties which no court has jurisdiction over.
The court consequently declared Datti as the duly elected lawmaker for the Kura/Madobi/Garun Malam Federal Constituency.