It is very unfortunate that some of our fellow citizens here cannot differentiate between white and black. Yes, your party is winning and you are winning – and everything is fine, even when we see unfairness in the ruling of our judiciary. That is the problem we have in Nigeria.

I am not a lawyer and I do not care the type of rug or special wigs those justices wear, but I must be blunt to say that THEY ARE WRONG in Kano state.

Yes, the Kano State Election Petition Tribunal  voided 165,663 votes because the ballot papers were neither stamped nor signed, even though INEC was fine with those. Then, these people went and deducted 165,663 votes from ONLY the votes of the NNPP candidate, and left the votes of APC, PDP, SDP & LP unaffected. 

In other rulings, justices have played along with INEC even when they could not provide documents to back their results. In this Kano one, the issue was that INEC did not sign the documents. In the presidential one, in many polling units, there were no results, not to talk of being unsigned! How do you reconcile these inconsistencies?

In mathematics, it is impossible for only NNPP to have scored those 165k votes.  Notice here that they punished NNPP for the mess of INEC which was responsible for the election. Why must it be ONLY NNPP that should bear the responsibility of overvoting and process mistakes of INEC, the electoral umpire? This was an election where the NNPP was an opposition party with limited capacity to use the power of the state machinery against another party.

This was what they did in Imo State where they added all “found” votes to one candidate and marginally the 4th person became the #1 and won. If our lawyers do not know basic statistics, it is time we require Statistics in Law School because what we’re seeing in these rulings are troubling.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the tribunal sacked Mr Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) after deducting 165,663 votes from the total votes he scored during the election.

The three-member panel of judges led by Oluyemi Asadebay ruled that the ballots containing the votes were not certified by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Despite the tribunal’s ruling, Mr Yusuf will remain in office until the appeal court and possibly the supreme court gives a final ruling on the matter.

Read below the full statement from the governor

“All praises and gratitude are due to Allah Subhanahu wata’ala, The Sovereign Lord of Power. May the peace and countless blessings of Allah be upon our Noble Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W), His Families, and all His Companions.

“My good people of Kano State! You would recall that on March 18, 2023, you came out in mass and voted for me as your Governor with a total vote of 1,019,602 and a margin of 128,897 votes between my humble self and second place.

“Subsequently, I was duly sworn in as your elected Governor on May 29, 2023. You may also recall that the party that lost the election took us to court. However, after almost six months of proceedings at the governorship election petition tribunal, today Wednesday, September 20, 2023, the judges of the tribunal have in their wisdom delivered their ruling.

“As human beings their judgment may not be perfect, there are errors and misapplications of the law as pointed out by our legal team. That is why our constitution provides for other stages to go on with- such as the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

“On this note, we have already instructed our legal team to appeal this judgment as soon as possible to ensure that justice is done.

“People should not take the law into their own hands. Security agents have already been directed to ensure the full protection of the f lives and properties of innocent citizens across the State.

“This government will continue to work for the development of our State in line with the promises we made, seeking your votes. We want to assure you that this will neither dampen our spirit nor slow us down as this is a temporary setback for our State which we will overcome by the grace of Almighty Allah (SWT).

“While thanking the good people of Kano State for their continuous support and prayer, let me further use this opportunity to call on them to continue to go about their businesses peacefully with the assurances that we would get justice at the appellate courts and get the mandate of the people restored and respected Insha Allah (God’s willing), the governor said.

Nigeria – what a nation! Today, we are learning that NYSC certificate is no more a requirement for the governor’s mansion [Enugu State today], after years the judiciary has sent many out due to the same certificate: “In its verdict, the tribunal, presided over by Justice Kudirat Murayo Akano, dismissed all the grounds of the petition. It ruled that the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate is not a prerequisite for running for the office of the governor, and there was no evidence of the NYSC certificate being attached to the documents the governor submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).”

I do not care who the governor of Enugu is. I really do not care. But I am concerned when there is no consistency in these rulings. But I do agree with this framework: let us remove all the barriers since they hardly add any value.

From the presidential tribunal ruling, it has been established that you do not need to include primary and secondary school certificates for the Nigerian presidency. Now in Enugu, NYSC is not needed. So, if that is the case, primary to university requirements are waived.

So in 4 years, buy the INEC form, cross all the sections because you need ZERO records to attain any position in Nigeria. Primary school – not needed, secondary school – not needed, NYSC – not needed, university education – being uninstalled. Nigerian judiciary, thanks for making things easier!

(Note, I am not commenting on if the governor did NYSC or not, I am focusing on the Tribunal saying it is no longer a requirement.)

The Nigerian Judiciary, for whatever reasons is beginning to consolidate and enhance illegality and rascality enough to set the country on a path of next level anyhowness and whataboutism that the politicians have always wanted. I only pray it doesn't consume us in the end.

— Taiwo Gabriel Balogun (@taiwo_balogun_) September 21, 2023

Comment on Feed

Comment 1: Excuse me sir, I think it’s better we put things in proper perspective for public consumption. First the minimum requirements to contest for any elective position in Nigeria is O’level WAEC/NECO. What this means is that if you have a BSC or MSC or PhD you can submit it. And if you choose to submit a BSC or MSC or PhD without submitting your WAEC you have not committed any electoral offenses. This is why it is called Minimum requirements in the electoral act. You dont have to submit all your credentials just meet this minimum requirements. In the case of the Presidential election, President Tinubu submitted a B.SC degree certificate which is above the minimum, he doesn’t have to submit an O’level WAEC. So the ruling the learned judges on the certificate is in order. It is consistent with other previous ruling. Atleast CSU recently released his transcript too to ATIKU.

In the case of NYSC, if the minimum requirement doesn’t include NYSC in the electoral then “Ne problemen”. The only part of the law is that if you wanna work for Government you must have NYSC certificate or exemption certificate.

My Response: we can defend anything in Nigeria. I am not debating. I accept anything because that is Nigeria. That is not the focus of my post. My focus is consistency: if you say you do not need primary or secondary school, be consistent.

But note this: if you want to attend UNILAG for BSC  (History) and you already have a PhD in Mechanical engineering. If you write JAMB, you must still show WAEC because that is the minimum requirement.  In most democracies, INEC will stop at the primary school because that is the minimum. That you have a PhD and cannot show you have a primary school certificate would not get you through in the UK, US or most places. But in Nigeria, anything goes. I am saying: be consistent.

Comment1R: You’re right. In this case I think the Enugu governor also submitted his Bachelor’s degree. Since he did not submit any NYSC certificate the issue of perjury was a moot point.

My Response: “Since he did not submit any NYSC certificate the issue of perjury was a moot point.” I am not sure that is correct since not attending NYSC has been used to fire previous office occupants. Many ministers have resigned because they did not do NYSC. In other words, by another law of the land, aNYSC certificate is a requirement to hold a public office in Nigeria if you graduate within the requirements.

Comment 2: Sad development. We cannot allow some people to serve their father land and others to willfully dodge the service without consequences. I agree that it is not a determinant if anybody will be a good governor but it does show that the person who did not serve has little regard for the public good. To then have such a person preside over a State is not setting the right example.

Comment 3: I know you must have struggled a lot to put this together. ? I hope you are happy now for making our judiciary look like they don’t know what they are doing?
What do you mean by ‘what a nation’? As if there is a judgement in the past that says NYSC is a requirement. Who on this earth does not know that NYSC cannot be a requirement since BSC is not the minimum qualification. How else do you want to obtain NYSC if not after graduating from tertiary institution. I feel you need to dedicate more time to analyse your post before throwing it here so you don’t mislead people. Again Prof, we know where you belong and your intention on this platform.

My Response: happy to have you here again. You always struggle to read my posts and always comment out of order. If you do try (you never with all the misinformation to drop whenever),you will notice my core thesis: be consistent. If ministers, House members, etc have been fired because they did not present NYSCs, and suddenly the same system says it is not required, there is a problem. If a primary school certificate is the minimum requirement and you cannot show primary school certificate but a university degree, have you satisfied the requirement? 

Do you NOT think the system should stop at verifying the primary school school certificate? Evan Enwerem in early 2000s was kicked out of the Senate Presidency because he claimed he was called to the British bar when he was not even though he was called to the Nigerian bar. Where do we have the British Bar requirement to be a senate president?

In July 2019, Nigeria’s Supreme Court sacked a  House of Reps member, Hon  Abdulra’uf Abdulkadir Modibbo from Adamawa state from the National Assembly. His offence? Failure to participate in the one-year mandatory NYSC program. 

Your comment lacks merit because you forgot another land in the land which says NYSC for all qualified grads are mandatory to hold non-military jobs in Nigeria. So, even if the Electoral Act did not have it, there is another law that does.

Do not come here and misinform people as you do.

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The Enugu State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal in Enugu has affirmed the victory of Peter Mbah of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the gubernatorial election held on March 18, 2023, throwing out the suits against him.

The Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate, Chijioke Edeoga, and Chris Agu of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) had filed a petition with the tribunal challenging the election outcome. They alleged that Peter Mbah was ineligible to contest the election due to an alleged forgery of his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate and cited instances of over-voting in Udenu, Nkanu East, and Enugu East local government areas as grounds for their challenge.

In its verdict, the tribunal, presided over by Justice Kudirat Murayo Akano, dismissed all the grounds of the petition. It ruled that the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate is not a prerequisite for running for the office of the governor, and there was no evidence of the NYSC certificate being attached to the documents the governor submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

In the judgment, the tribunal addressed various claims made by the LP candidate:

Wrong Computation of Results in Udenu Local Government: The panel ruled that the petitioner, Chijioke Edeoga, failed to substantiate this claim. It noted that the witnesses called by Edeoga provided identical testimonies for different polling units and wards in various local governments, undermining their credibility.

Additionally, the panel stated that the LP’s witnesses were not properly accredited agents according to INEC’s regulations, rendering their testimony invalid. The tribunal deducted 51 votes from the PDP and added them to the LP based on the testimony of witnesses from the correct agents in three polling units. However, the panel determined that this deduction was insufficient to overturn Peter Mbah’s election.

Amagu Polling Unit in Nkanu East: The panel canceled the votes for all parties in the Amagu polling unit in Nkanu East because the witness (PW10) provided evidence that he was present and the right person.

Remaining 11 Polling Units: The tribunal found that the witnesses in the remaining 11 polling units did not sign the result sheets, and they were unable to prove their status as party agents. Consequently, their testimony was disregarded.

After addressing these issues and evaluating the evidence, the tribunal dismissed the petition for lack of merit.

Reacting to the ruling, Governor Mbah said it was a victory for the people of Enugu State.

“It is a victory for Ndi Enugu. It is also a victory for democracy,” the governor said. “It is a victory for massive development for Ndi Enugu. It is a victory for exponential growth, it is a victory for Enugu’s greatness.”