Yusuf Liman’s election as Speaker of the Kaduna State House of Assembly was declared void by the Court of Appeal in Abuja, and a rerun in five polling units (PUs) was mandated.
On September 30, the State Assembly Election Petition Tribunal declared Liman’s win in the Makera State Constituency to be invalid and mandated a rerun in 42 voting places.
This came about as a result of a petition that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Solomon Katuka, filed with the Tribunal contesting Liman’s election to the All Progressives Congress (APC
In his petition, the PDP candidate alleged that there were gross irregularities regarding the election of the Speaker, arguing that he actually won the March 18, 2023, House of Assembly Election in the Makera constituency and therefore ought to have been declared the winner.
Among the affected polling units are 37 PUs in Makera ward, 2 PUs in Barnawa ward, 1 PU in Kakuri Gwari ward, 1 PU in Television ward, and 1 PU in Kakuri Hausa ward, making it 42 polling units.
The sack is coming five months after Liman was elected and sworn in as the House Speaker. Facebook/KadunaAssembly.
Dissatisfied with the judgement of the Tribunal, the APC candidate and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) filed an appeal against the judgement of the Tribunal, while filing a cross-appeal seeking an outright declaration.
However, the Appeal Court in a judgement delivered by Justice O. O Adejumo, Justice A . O Oyetula, and Justice P. An Obiora on Friday, November 24, 2023, in Abuja, dismissed the appeal by the speaker and INEC and ordered a rerun in five polling units instead of the 42 that were ordered by the tribunal
The affected polling units where the appellate court order after rerun include Barnawa Ward PU 005 and 009, Kakuri Gwari PU 006, Television Ward PU 022, and Kakuri Hausa Ward PU 045.
As it stands now, APC has 17,470 votes and the PDP polled 17,088. The court ruled that the election of Liman was nullified on the 382 lead margin, which was less than the number of Permanent Voter Cards collected in the affected polling units
