INEC Denies Withdrawal From Kano Gov Appeal, Reprimands Officer Over ‘Unauthorised’ Letter

By Sola Omoniyi, Lagos

The Independent National Electoral Commission on Saturday denied claims of either withdrawing from or abandoning the appeal process of the Kano State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal judgment.

This is according to a statement signed by Sam Olumekun, National Commissioner and Chairman, of the Information and Voter Education Committee.

Recall, on September 20, the court sacked Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, who was the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) candidate in the March 18 election, declaring the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Nasiru Gawuna, as the winner.

But Yusuf vowed to appeal the judgment, which he described as a “misapplication of the law”.

However, in a statement by its National Commissioner and Chairman, the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, INEC stressed its position after a letter by its state legal officer which it described as “not authorised”.

According to the commission, the correspondence has since been withdrawn and the officer reprimanded.

“We wish to state categorically that where litigants join INEC in a case, the Commission is under obligation to respond accordingly,” it said.

“We have therefore instructed our lawyers to proceed in line with the extant policy of the Commission. The policy has not changed.

“The attention of the Commission has been drawn to media reports based on a letter written by the Legal Officer of our Kano State office indicating that the Commission had withdrawn from the appeal process in the ongoing Kano Governorship election petition case. The statement reads

“We wish to state categorically that the letter was not authorised. It has since been withdrawn and the officer reprimanded.

“The public is therefore advised to discountenance the insinuation that the Commission has withdrawn from the case or even worse abandoned the appeal.

“We wish to state categorically that where litigants join INEC in a case, the Commission is under obligation to respond accordingly. We have therefore instructed our lawyers to proceed in line with the extant policy of the Commission. The policy has not changed.”