INEC denies withdrawal notice on Kano guber Appeal, says legal secretary misled

It has been reported that INEC has reversed its decision to drop its appeal of the petition judgement in the Kano State gubernatorial election.

On Saturday, Infostride News learned that INEC has retracted the letter it had first sent to signal its withdrawal from the appeal against the Tribunal’s verdict.

On Friday, the commission officially retracted its appeal in a letter signed by Suleiman Alkali, chief of the legal department in Kano.

The letter, written to the Kano Governorship Election Petition Tribunal secretary, stated in part, “I have been instructed by the commission headquarters that INEC as an umpire have no reason to appeal any judgement.”

As a result, “the National Commissioner responsible for Legal Services and the National Commissioner responsible for the Kano zone directed that the appeal be withdrawn and all processes for all Appeals should be forwarded to the Kano Office.”

But Alkali claims they have retracted their letter from the Tribunal.

A government representative reportedly informed reporters that Alkali claimed to have been misled into drafting the letter after being confronted by some of the counsel representing INEC in the dispute. He also expressed regret for his blunders.

He did not, however, say who had lied to him. He said he retracted the letter to the Tribunal within 40 minutes, and was therefore taken aback by its subsequent appearance in the media.

He claimed that he had learned the hard way that this was a delicate matter, and that some officials were plotting to use him as a scapegoat.

You may recall that on September 20th, a three-person Tribunal panel dismissed Governor Abba Yusuf and proclaimed All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Nasiru Gawuna the winner of the governorship election held on March 18th.

Reporters were shown a copy of the Notice of Appeal filed on behalf of INEC by the law firm of Dikko & Mahmood on October 3rd, which they were told is still active.