The Supreme Court has set January 13 as the date for its decision on the All Progressives Congress governorship ticket in Jigawa state.
Umar Namadi had won the lawsuit at both the Federal High Court in Dutse and the Court of Appeal Kano Division.
Farouk Aliyu, on the other hand, is appealing the November 4, 2022 verdict of the Court of Appeal Kano Division, which dismissed his earlier appeal and affirmed Namadi’s election as the APC’s governorship candidate in Jigawa state.
On Wednesday, a five-member panel of Supreme Court Justices chaired by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun set the date for decision.
At Wednesday’s sitting, a five-member panel of Justices of the apex court led by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun fixed the date for judgment after taking arguments from parties in the appeal filed by Aliyu, a former Minority Leader of the House of Representatives.
The panel also heard a cross appeal by Umar Namadi, the current Deputy Governor of Jigawa state.
It would be nice, that a three-member panel presided over by Justice Ita Mbaba, in the November 4, judgment, unanimously dismissed Aliyu’s appeal against the September 13, 2022 judgement by Justice Hassan Dikko of the Federal High Court, Dutse, for lacking in merit.
Justice Dikko had, in the judgment, held among others, that Aliyu lacked the locus standi to approach the court and added that he failed to prove his case with credible evidence.
However, in the cross appeal filed by Lateef Fagbemi SAN, Namadi is challenging a portion of the Court of Appeal judgment which upturned the trial court’s decision that Aliyu lacked the locus standi to have filed the suit which did not qualify as a pre-election case.
Adopting his client’s brief on Wednesday, Fagbemi on behalf of Namadi urged the panel to dismiss the appeal by Aliyu and allow his client’s cross appeal.
Fagbemi argued that the Appeal Court was wrong to have exercised jurisdiction over Aliyu’s appeal, which arose “from an action improperly constituted.”.
Lawyer to Aliyu, Onyechi Ikpeazu SAN objected and prayed the court to allow his client’s appeal.
