Court strikes out suit seeking to disqualify Kwankwaso’s in-law as Kano PDP Guber candidate

A Kano High Court, on Monday, stroke out a suit filed by one
Jaafar Sani-Bello, a gubernatorial aspirant of the Peoples
Democratic Party , PDP, in the state, seeking to disqualify the
party’s flag bearer, Abba Yusuf, for contesting in the forthcoming
governorship election.

Recall that on October 2, Mr Yusuf, a son-in-law to former
Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, emerged winner of the PDP primaries after
polling 2,421 votes to defeat his distant second, Mr Sani-Bello,
who got 1,258 votes.

Dissatisfied by the outcome, Mr Sani-Bello dragged Mr Yusuf to
Kano High Court 3, seeking to be declared the governorship
candidate of the party as Mr Yusuf breached Section 8 (8) of the
party constitution as amended.

The section requires that, anybody who defected from the party
and seeks to re-join, shall write to ward secretary of his
intention to re-join the party, which according to Mr Sani-Bello,
his opponent did not do so.

However, delivering the judgment, the High Court’s judge, Ahmad
Badamasi, said the case was filed out of the required 14 days after
the primary election, as provided by section 285(9) of the 1999
constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria ( as amended).

According to him, any election complaint, which is within the
jurisdiction of a competent court of law, shall be filed within the
required 14 days as provided by the constitution, as such it is
declared as “status bar”.

“While it is evident that a political party is supreme in
resolving election matters, a court may however interfere in order
to ensure justice region in a society.

“In this case, a court can be called upon to entertain the case
in order to ensure justice.

“According to section 285(9) of the amended constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria of 1999, any election matter should be
filed in within 14 days of the election.

“This primary election conducted by the 3rd defendant (PDP) was
conducted between October 1 and 2, in which the plaintiff, Jaafar
Sani-Bello came second with 1,258 votes.

“However, looking at the scenario, the plaintiff filed the suit
on October 16. By the determination of the case, the plaintiff
thought they met the required 14 days as provided by the
constitution, but according to this court, the case is hereby
stroke out as they exceeded the required period to submit their
application,” Mr Badamasi said.

After the judgement was passed, counsel to Mr Yusuf, Bashir
Yusuf, sought for N1 million cost against the plaintiff for causing
unnecessary delay, but the lawyer to the plaintiff, Abdul Adamu,
prayed the court not to entertain the prayer.

The judge then ruled that all parties to bear the cost.

Speaking after the court session, lawyer to Mr Yusuf, expressed
happiness for the judgement, commending the judge for doing the
right thing.

He also argued that time has already run down for the plaintiff
to re-file the matter.

In his remarks, Mr Sani-Bello said he would consult his
associates to review the judgement for onward action.

He also restated his stance to continue to be bona-fide member
of the opposition party in the state, promising to work assiduously
towards its success in the forthcoming elections.

“I will remain in the PDP because it is the party I laboured
for. I will remain its active member and work for its victory in
the coming elections.

“It is the party I trust and believe in. I will then consult my
associates on what to do over this judgement that has been passed
in this honourable court,” he said.