The Appeal Court on has reacted to the controversy trailing the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgement on the Kano State governorship election.
The court in a statement on Wednesday admitted a typographical error in the judgement.
Recall, THE WITNESS reported that a three-member panel of the appeal court led by Justice M. U. Adumeh on November 17 upheld the verdict of the state governorship election petition tribunal which nullified Governor Abba Yusuf’s victory in the March 18 election.
However, the state has been rocked by protests following the discovery of the CTC with conflicting statements on the ruling.
The court’s Chief Registrar, Umar Bangari, who reacted to the development in a statement on Wednesday, said there was no contradiction in the judgment which declared the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Yusuf Gawuna, as the duly elected governor of the state.
He stressed that the error in the CTC has not in any way invalidated or changed the court’s findings and conclusions on the matter.
The registrar assured Nigerians that the error would be rectified once parties in the matter file formal applications to that effect.
“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 error and that will be done as appropriate,” Bangari added.
Meanwhile, Governor Yusuf’s lawyers filed a fresh notice of appeal before the Supreme Court, seeking to uphold only the aspect of the judgment which is in their favour and overturn parts that are not.
But staff of the Court refused service of the processes, forcing the legal team to proceed to the Kano Division of the court where same was accepted with revenue collector’s receipt number: 13164334.
Officials of the Court of Appeal later sent letters to counsels to all the parties in the matter to return the CTCs for correction, which Governor Yusuf’s lawyers also refused service.
