…Says It was misled by legal secretary
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is quoted as saying that it has retracted its steps on the withdrawal of its Appeal in the Kano State gubernatorial election petition judgment.
Reports early Saturday suggested that INEC had withdrawn its initial letter signifying withdrawal from the appeal against the judgment of the tribunal.
In a letter signed by the head of the commission’s legal department in Kano, Suleiman Alkali, on Friday said it withdrew its appeal as it had no reason to appeal any judgment.
The letter, which was addressed to the secretary of the Kano Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, partly read: “I have been instructed by the Commission headquarters that INEC as an umpire have no reason to appeal any judgment.
“Consequently, the National Commission in charge of Legal Services and National Commissioner in charge of Kano zone directed that the appeal be withdrawn and all processes for all Appeals should be forwarded to the Kano Office.
However Suleiman Alkali, has said that the letter written to the Tribunal has been withdrawn.
According to a top INEC staff member who spoke to our reporter on condition of anonymity, Alkali was confronted by some of the counsel representing INEC in the matter, and he claimed that he was misled into writing the letter. He also tendered his apology for his “mistakes”.
He however did not reveal who misled him. He said he withdrew the letter within 40 minutes of submitting it to the tribunal but was surprised that it had found its way into the media.
According to him, some authorities wanted to use him as scapegoat and he has already been awoken to the reality that it was a very sensitive issue about which he will need to tread carefully henceforth.
Recall that the 3-man tribunal panel, on September 20, sacked Governor Abba Yusuf and declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Nasiru Gawuna, winner of the March 18 governorship poll.
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