Kano tribunal nullifies NNPP Rep’s victory over certificate forgery
The National and State House of Assembly elections petition tribunal in Kano has nullified the election of Muktar Umar Yerima of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) over certificate forgery.
Yerima represents the Tarauni federal constituency of Kano state in the House Of Representatives.
In a judgement delivered on Thursday, the three-member tribunal led by I.P. Chima held that the primary school certificate provided by Yerima to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was forged.
The tribunal claims that Hafizu Kawu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who filed the petition disputing Yerima’s election, successfully established a case of forgery against the NNPP candidate.
Yerima was announced the winner of the Tarauni federal constituency election after receiving 26,273 votes to defeat Hafizu Kawu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who received 15,931 votes.
However, Kawu, a former House of Representatives member, filed a petition contesting Yarima’s victory on the grounds of certificate fraud.
Additionally, in his appeal, Kawu claimed that violations of the electoral act and overvoting marred the election.
The tribunal found the NNPP candidate guilty of certificate falsification in the judgement.
According to the ruling, the certificate presented by the ousted politician was disowned by the school, Hausawa Primary School.
The court further declared that Yerima did not receive any legal votes because the political party had no candidate in the election.
Thereafter, the tribunal instructed INEC to revoke Yerima’s certificate of return.
