The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has retracted the withdrawal of its appeal in the Kano State gubernatorial election petition judgement.
INEC had initially withdrawn its appeal against the judgement of the Tribunal, but the commission’s legal department in Kano, headed by Suleiman Alkali, has said that the withdrawal was made in error.
Alkali, in a letter written to the secretary of the Kano Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, said that INEC has no reason to appeal any judgement and that the appeal was therefore withdrawn.
The letter partly read: “I have been instructed by the commission headquarters that INEC as an umpire have no reason to appeal any judgment.
“Consequently, the National Commissioner in charge of Legal Services and National Commissioner in charge of Kano zone directed that the appeal be withdrawn and all processes for all Appeals should be forwarded to the Kano Office.”
However, Alkali has since said that the letter was written without the authorisation of the INEC headquarters. He has also apologised for his mistake.
Sources say that Alkali was misled into writing the letter by some authorities who wanted to use him as a scapegoat.
INEC has since filed a Notice of Appeal against the Tribunal’s judgement, and the appeal is still subsisting.
The Tribunal had on September 20 sacked Governor Abba Yusuf and declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Nasiru Gawuna, winner of the March 18 governorship poll.
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