TELL Magazine

Kano state is on total lockdown, and the security services are on patrol. This follows a 24-hour curfew imposed on the state after the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in a judgement on Wednesday sacked the governor, Kabiru Yusuf of the New Nigeria Political Party, NNPP. The tribunal ruled that ballot papers were neither stamped nor signed in certain areas thereby rendering them invalid. The number was then subtracted from the votes of the governor, which then resulted in his votes being less than that of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC , Nasir Gawuna. The tribunal had ruled that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC should withdraw the certificate of return earlier given Yusuf and issue another one to Gawuna as the winner of the election held on March 18, 2023.
Aside from the the open conflict between supporters of NNPC and APC in the run up to the election, the election was held under a tense atmosphere. In fact, recently one of the state officials was sacked because he issued a threat on the judges if the verdict was discovered not to be favorable. That may have informed the decision of the judges to give the judgement via zoom.
The announcement of the curfew was contained in a statement issued by Muhammed Gumel, the state commissioner of police. He said security operatives have been dispatched across the city of Kano to enforce the curfew. According to the statement, the order for the curfew was given by the state government.