Counsel to Ali Musa Danmalki, the NNPP flagbearer in the last Kano LG polls in Kumbotso Local Government, Barrister Jazuli Mustapha, has expressed outrage over KANSIEC’s alleged flagrant violation of a court order.
Speaking to journalists on Friday regarding the development, Barrister Mustapha stated that despite the Kano State High Court’s ruling that no one should be sworn in pending the appeal challenging the court judgment, KANSIEC went ahead and swore in Ghali, the purported NNPP candidate, just hours later.
He added that the court, by its ruling on November 14, ordered local government employees in Kumbotso LGA to continue managing the LGA’s affairs until the appeal is resolved.
The counsel noted that the situation raises serious concerns about the rule of law and the integrity of the electoral process in Kano State. 5He emphasized, “It is the duty of every person to protect the sanctity of the court.”
Barrister Jazuli Mustapha disclosed that his client, Ali Musa Danmalki, through his counsel, approached the Kano High Court No. 4, presided over by Justice Usman Malam Na’abba, seeking declarative reliefs following the wrongful substitution of his name after being nominated, screened, cleared, and purchasing the nomination form to contest for the position of Chairman in Kumbotso LGA during the exercise in Kano.
He further noted that Mr. Danmalki prayed the court to affirm that he is the rightful candidate of the NNPP and to declare that substituting his name with Abdullahi Ghali, after being screened and purchasing the nomination form, was a flagrant violation of electoral processes. He sought the court’s declaration that he was the rightful candidate for the Kumbotso LGA poll.
The counsel explained that the presiding judge, Justice Na’abba, after hearing submissions from lawyers representing both parties on October 24, 2024, delivered his ruling the following day, October 25, 2024. He consequently granted all the prayers requested by the plaintiff and affirmed him as the rightful candidate to contest for the position of Chairman in Kumbotso LGA during the poll.
Dissatisfied with the ruling, Abdullahi Ghali and the NNPP appealed the judgment, claiming errors and a miscarriage of justice in the lower court’s decision.
According to Barrister Mustapha, Mr. Ghali filed a motion praying the court to set aside its ruling, while the NNPP filed a motion seeking a stay of execution.
In his ruling delivered on November 14, Justice Na’abba refused the defendants’ prayers to set aside the earlier judgment and affirmed the plaintiff as the rightful candidate to contest in the Kumbotso Local Government elections under the NNPP platform.
The lawyer further expressed his concern over KANSIEC’s actions just hours after the court’s ruling. 13He concluded by highlighting that he would consult his client for further action.
