The National and State House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal in Kano has declared null and void the election of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) leader, Umar Yerima.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Yerima the winner of the House of Representatives election in the federal constituency of Tarauuni.
But the three-member panel of the tribunal, headed by Justice I.P. Chima concedes that Yerima was not eligible due to having forged his primary school certificate.
According to the court, the case of the plaintiff, Hafizu Kawu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) opposing Yerima succeeded in proving the case of forgery against the NNPP candidate.
The court therefore ruled that the NNPP had no candidate in the election and any votes cast for Yerima were wasted votes. It later instructed INEC to withdraw any previous return certificates issued to Yerima.
The court held that Yerima’s defense that he had made a name change in 2022 did not hold water after he had been using three names (Umar Mukhtar Zakari) on his international passports since 2009, while his primary school certificate still bears Umar Mukhtar.
It also ruled that Hausawa Elementary School, the primary school in question, rejected the certificate issued by the dismissed MP.
Crime Channel
