JUST-IN: Court Of Appeal Validates Kano LG Polls

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has overturned the ruling of a Federal High Court, Kano which had earlier halted the conduct of local government elections in the state, declaring that the lower court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the matter.

The appellate court, in a judgment delivered by Justice Oyewumi on Friday, ruled that the Federal High Court exceeded its constitutional authority by intervening in issues related to the conduct of local government elections, a responsibility solely within the jurisdiction of state authorities.

With this ruling, the Court of Appeal upheld the appeal filed by the Kano State Government, effectively nullifying the previous judgment and affirming the legality of the local government elections held in the state.

LEADERSHIP earlier reports a suit was filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the Federal High Court in Kano in October, 2024.

In the suit, the plaintiffs sought to stop the scheduled LG elections, alleging that the Chairman of the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC), Professor Sani Lawal Malumfashi, alongside some commissioners, were card-carrying members of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), thereby compromising the neutrality of the electoral body.

Three days to the elections, Justice Simon Amobeda of the Federal High Court ruled in favour of the plaintiffs, dissolving the leadership of KANSIEC and restraining the commission from conducting the elections.

Despite the court order, KANSIEC proceeded with the polls on October 26, 2024.

The APC, however, dismissed the elections as illegal and a violation of the court’s directive.