Election tribunal: Kano gov asks Appeal Court to stop witness from testifying

Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State has filed an appeal against a subpoena served on Dr Aminu Idiris Harbau to testify as a witness in the ongoing governorship legal tussle at the elections Tribunal, insisting that the court erred in its action.

The governor filed an interlocutory appeal before the Court of Appeal, Kano Judicial Division, challenging the ruling of the Kano State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal delivered on July 13, 2023, in a petition filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and two others.

In a notice of appeal dated and filed at the tribunal secretariat before final onward transmission to the Court of Appeal, the appellant, Abba Kabir, is praying for an order allowing the appeal and setting aside the ruling of the tribunal led by Justice Oluyemi and delivered by Akintan-Osadebay.

In a six-ground appeal, counsel to the appellant, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, argued that the tribunal erred in law when they granted the application of the 1st respondent (APC) on leave to call a subpoenaed witness, Dr Aminu Idris Harbau, against the clear provision of Paragraph 4(5) of the First Schedule of the Electoral Act, 2022.

Gov Abba Kabir Yusuf further alleged that the judges erred in law when they refused, failed, and neglected to consider, as required by law, the appellant’s submission on the interpretation of the provision of the Electoral Act, 2022, in arriving at the decision, thereby denying Yusuf’s right to a fair hearing.

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According to the appellant, the tribunal erred in law by granting the application of APC for a written deposition on oath of Dr Harbau, when the petitioner didn’t disclose any substantial or extreme circumstances in the application, for allegedly failing to include the said deposition with the petition.

Yusuf also alleged that the tribunal, led by Justice Oluyemi Akintan Osadebay, erred in law when it granted the application of APC when there was no prayer for an extension of time for the tribunal to exercise its power in granting the application.

The appellant similarly argued that the tribunal erred in law when it refused to consider the provision of Paragraph 17 of the First Schedule of the Electoral Act, 2022, with respect to other directions, which ought to be prayed for within 10 days after the entry of appearances but not later than 10 days after the filing of the reply.

The date for the mention of the appeal at Kano Judicial Division is yet to be fixed.