‘Tribunal Requested Us To Withdraw From Kano Guber Appeal’

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has opened up on the issues surrounding the letter in circulation stating that it has withdrawn the appeal against the Kano Governorship Election Petition Tribunal judgement sacking the Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf.

The Head of the Legal Department in Kano, Barrister Suleiman Alkali, who signed the letter in circulation, in a chat with Daily Trust claimed that it was the tribunal secretariat that requested the electoral umpire to write the said letter.

Alkali speaking on why the letter was issued in the first place and later withdrawn, said the tribunal requested the letter.

He said, “The letter was mischievously requested by the Tribunal Secretary and I wrote to them for a purpose and they deliberately escalated it. The letter had been withdrawn. It no longer has legal backing.”

An official at the tribunal registry, who spoke with the platform on condition of anonymity during a visit to the registry on Saturday said the letter was never submitted.

The official said, “We did not receive anything here and if they claim that, they should produce the acknowledged copy.

“When he (the HOD legal) approached us with the issue via phone we said no and asked him to put it formally in writing.

“However, we are not the ones to entertain that but our head office in Abuja. We also work under directives of our superiors.”

It was, however, noted that a Notice of Appeal was filed on behalf of INEC on October 3 by the law office of Dikko & Mahmoud, the law firm of A.B Mahmood (SAN), a former president of the Nigeria Bar Association.