An INEC officer issued the letter stating the commission was withdrawing its appeal. The body has now come out to distance itself from the issuer, and reprimand him.
The incident, a near-replica of the issue in Adamawa State governorship election, shows a divide within the electoral body that calls for scrutiny.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) disputed accusations on Saturday that it had withdrawn from or abandoned the appeal process against the Kano State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal decision.
On September 20, the court dismissed Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) candidate in the March 18 election, proclaiming the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nasiru Gawuna, the winner.
But Yusuf pledged to appeal the decision, calling it a “misapplication of the law” and claiming that it was unjust.
At the time, INEC also said it was following the judgment with an appeal.
It came as a shock to Nigerians when a statement spread few days ago, saying the electoral body had changed its mind and pushing appeal.
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However, in a statement by its National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, INEC distanced itself from a letter by its state legal officer. Olumekun described it as “not authorised”.
According to the commission, the correspondence has since been withdrawn and the officer reprimanded.
“We wish to state categorically that where litigants join INEC in a case, the Commission is under obligation to respond accordingly,” it said.
“We have therefore instructed our lawyers to proceed in line with extant policy of the Commission. The policy has not changed.”
