•Clerical error blamed by Court and APC, while NNPP and Labour Party insist judgment was tampered with
•Yusuf appeals to Supreme Court, claiming serious miscarriage of justice
On Wednesday, a group of young individuals believed to be supporters of the New Nigeria People’s Party gathered in the Kofar Nasarawa area of Kano to protest against what they perceived as contradictory statements in the Court of Appeal’s judgment that removed Governor Abba Yusuf from office.
The protest began after the residents of the area organized a special prayer for the governor at 2 pm.
During the protest, clashes erupted between the demonstrators and the police who were deployed to maintain order.
Meanwhile, the confusion surrounding the judgment continued as both the NNPP and the Labour Party rejected the explanations provided by the Court of Appeal and the All Progressive Congress, claiming that the discrepancies in the Certified True Copy of the judgment were not simply a clerical error.
The Court of Appeal had previously upheld the decision of the state election petitions tribunal to remove the governor in its judgment on Friday.
In contrast to Friday’s ruling, the CTC stated that the Court of Appeal favored the NNPP candidate, who is the governor, and resolved all issues in the appeal, overturning the decision of the state governorship election tribunal that removed him from office.
On Wednesday, there was unrest in Kano as NNPP supporters staged a protest in the Kofar Nasarawa area after a prayer event for the governor. The protesters obstructed the road with fires and wood, causing traffic disruptions. The state police command intervened to disperse the protesters, who resisted by throwing sticks and stones. The police eventually dispersed the protesters using tear gas canisters. The state police command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Abdullahi Haruna, was unavailable for comment when contacted.
In response to the alleged inconsistencies in the ruling, the NNPP acting National Chairman, Abba Ali, represented by National Secretary Dipo Olayoku, expressed his concerns during a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday. Olayoku claimed that the judgment had been tampered with.
Olayoku emphasized that while the initial pronouncement stated that their appeal had failed, the certified true copy (CTC) of the judgment revealed that all the issues had actually been resolved in their favor. Furthermore, costs were awarded in their favor against the APC. This contradiction poses a perplexing situation.
According to Olayoku, it is evident that the only logical conclusion is that the Court of Appeal modified the judgment after concluding their deliberations and mistakenly left the original conclusion during the copying and pasting process.
To their astonishment, the CTC clearly indicated that the judgment delivered by Justice Moore Aseimo Abraham Adumein, JCA, and concurred to by Justice Bitrus Gyarazama JCA, Justice Lateef Adebayo Ganiyu, JCA, favored their candidate, the Governor of Kano State, Abba Kabir Yusuf.
In light of these circumstances, they are urging esteemed members of the bench (both retired and serving) and the legal profession to take an interest in understanding what transpired to result in such a scenario as presented in the CTC of the Appeal Court’s judgment.
According to the statement made by the speaker, the mistake made cannot be easily rectified by the Court of Appeal as it does not fall under the ‘slip rule’. This rule only applies to errors that are so obvious that their correction would not cause any controversy or alter the court’s decision. Additionally, the chief spokesman for the Labour Party Campaign Organisation, Yunusa Tanko, stated in an interview with The PUNCH that it is highly unlikely to commit a crime without leaving behind some evidence.
He said, “When you want to commit a crime, one way or the other, you will leave a trace or unnoticed clue that will lead to your arrest. What we have seen here is that the judiciary, by God’s intervention, left a clue to expose them and their dirty dealings. In this case, they didn’t even leave one. There were about three clues that show they were not able to clinically deal with their crime against the people. But it will not stand.’’
APC’s stand
But the All Progressives Congress dismissed allegations by the opposition parties, insisting that its candidate, Dr Nasiru Gawuna, won the appeal.
At a press conference on Wednesday, the National Legal Adviser of the APC, Prof Abdulkareem Kana, attributed the mix-up in the CTC to clerical errors.
He stated, “Those of us who are lawyers know that typographic errors often occur in certified true copies of court judgments. Ordinarily, there wouldn’t have been confusion if it was not a political matter. It will not be the first time such typographic mistakes will be seen in judgments and being lawyers, we are used to a situation like this. All that is required is to merely correct the mistake. The most important thing is a judgment that was read in open court.
“In a situation like this, what we lawyers do is a community reading of the entire judgment to see the exact finding of the court. For anyone who reads the judgment from page one all the way to page 72, you will agree most certainly that assertion will not hold water instead of upholding the judgment of the lower court, it sets it aside.
“I don’t think the explanation needs to come from us. But for us, we can only render our own perspective as a party to the entire uproar that is going on. But as to the explanation of where the error happened in the cause of typing the judgment, it is for the court to provide an explanation. I am sure the court would have done that by now by taking necessary measures to issue a fresh CTC with respect to an appropriate judgment of the court. So for me, I don’t think there is any confusion anywhere except for those who prefer to continue to see it as confusion.”
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Clerical error
Also, the Chief Registrar of the Court of Appeal, Umar Mohammed Bangari, said there was no contradiction in the judgment.
In a statement in Abuja on Wednesday, he stated, “What happened in the part of the judgment is just a mere clerical error that ought not to draw any issue. The court is empowered to correct such clerical errors and would be done as appropriate.
“The clerical error would be rectified once parties in the matter file formal application to that effect. Order 23 Rule 4 of the Court of Appeal Handbook empowers the court to correct any clerical error once detected by the court or any of the parties in the matter. However, contrary to insinuations, the judgment of the court remains valid.”
Meanwhile, the governor, on Wednesday filed an appeal at the Supreme Court, challenging his removal as by the appeal court last week.
The notice of appeal was filed by the NNPP and Yusuf joined the Independent National Electoral Commission, the APC and its governorship candidate as respondents.
The document, which lists 10 grounds of appeal against the judgement of the appellate court, seek three reliefs from the Supreme Court, as follows:
“An order allowing the appeal and setting aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal delivered on 17th November 2023.
“An order upholding the portion of the judgment of the court of appeal setting aside the judgment of the trial tribunal in petition No: EPT/RV/GOV/11/2023 and making an order as costs in favour of the appellant.
He also faulted the judgment, describing it as a grave miscarriage of justice.