The Court of Appeal has reportedly requested lawyers involved in the Kano State governorship election case to return the Certified True Copy of its judgment for correction.
This latest development comes after the court recently issued a certified true copy of the judgment that appeared to favour the appellant, Governor Kabir Yusuf of the New Nigerian People’s Party (NNPP).
The initial judgment, delivered on November 17, upheld the ruling of the Kano Governorship Election Tribunal, which sacked Governor Yusuf, but recent development shows that the court ordered the All Progressives Congress (APC) to pay Governor Yusuf N1million, with the judgement favouring the NNPC candidate.
Law professor and former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, expressed alarm over the court’s contradictory decision, questioning the integrity of the Nigerian judicial system.
“When we say the judiciary in Nigeria is crooked, people wonder how so. Look: the Court of Appeal in the Kano governorship case resolved all the issues ‘in favour of the appellant & against the 1st Respondent.’ Yet it found the appeal lacking in merit & liable to be dismissed. Explain!” Odinkalu stated on X (formerly Twitter).
In a further twist, reports indicate that the court has now requested lawyers involved in the case to return the judgment for “correction.” However, Odinkalu maintains that this action falls outside the scope of the Slip Rule, suggesting that the court is attempting to rewrite the judgment after the fact.
“This is Judicial Corruption on the face of the record,” Odinkalu declared.
The Kano Governorship Election Petition Tribunal had initially sacked Governor Yusuf in September, ruling that his candidacy was in breach of the Electoral Law.
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