National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Abdullahi Umar Gnaduje, has opened up on what his party used to nail Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared the governor, who ran under the platform of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), winner of the March 18 election, but the APC rejected the result and headed for the tribunal.

The lower court had voided 165,663 votes of Yusuf on the grounds that they were not signed or stamped by INEC.

The governor’s votes were then reduced to 853,939 while those of Nasir Ganuwa, his APC rival, remained at 890,705.

NNPP and Governor Yusuf had challenged the ruling at the Appeal Court, but still lost. The court held that Yusuf was not a member of the party under which he contested.

Reacting to the Appeal Court judgement, Ganduje said Kwankwaso was so desperate to become president that he did not notice INEC had closed accepting nomination forms, when he joined the NNPP.

The APC national chairman said they were aware of the development that was why they waited for the right time to strike.

Ganduje said, “They were in PDP and when the crisis heated up and they were punched repeatedly they left the party and started groping for a platform. Unfortunately, they ran into a political party symbolizing fruits. They were given tickets because their leader was daydreaming; their leader was ambitious to be the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, but he was frightened.

“And because they desperately wanted a governor in Kano State, the party gave them a ticket to contest. But they made a serious blunder because when they joined the party, INEC had closed submission of nomination forms. But they were blind and uneducated. They went into the ring without making careful observation of this.

“They did not know that we laid in wait. We took the file, submitted it to Dr Nasiru Yusuf Gwuna and told him to hold it tight. When we filed a petition at the Kano governorship election tribunal, we told the court that they were not fielded by the party. We told the court that when INEC closed accepting names of candidates, they did not join the party.”

FreeStuffsNG:
“And because they desperately wanted a governor in Kano State, the party gave them a ticket to contest. But they made a serious blunder because when they joined the party, INEC had closed submission of nomination forms. But they were blind and uneducated. They went into the ring without making careful observation of this.

“They did not know that we laid in wait. We took the file, submitted it to Dr Nasiru Yusuf Gwuna and told him to hold it tight. When we filed a petition at the Kano governorship election tribunal, we told the court that they were not fielded by the party. We told the court that when INEC closed accepting names of candidates, they did not join the party.”

FreeStuffsNG:
“And because they desperately wanted a governor in Kano State, the party gave them a ticket to contest. But they made a serious blunder because when they joined the party, INEC had closed submission of nomination forms. But they were blind and uneducated. They went into the ring without making careful observation of this.

“They did not know that we laid in wait. We took the file, submitted it to Dr Nasiru Yusuf Gwuna and told him to hold it tight. When we filed a petition at the Kano governorship election tribunal, we told the court that they were not fielded by the party. We told the court that when INEC closed accepting names of candidates, they did not join the party.”

This is very embarrassing and I believe it was not really a mistake. It was a strategy by Dr Kwankwaso to bolster his own chances in his Kano state home base. There's no way his campaign could get traction and make the local politicians see the benefits in his campaign for them unless he dangles the prospect of Kano state governorship before them. It's still part of the politics.

In 2011, ACN fielded Mallam Ribadu as a Presidential candidate for a similar reason even when it knew the chances of winning was slim. ACN didn't want to be without a Presidential candidate so it would not be forced to give PDP and CPC the edge to corner ACN members.

Uniqikz:
In the end, the voters doesn't decide who rule them. The very reason we are were we are since 1999

Jostoman:
APC and Gawuna are interloper and busy body.

Pakute:

Nothing like interloper, NNPP did not submit the name of Abba Yusuf to INEC, infact, no primaries took place.

Pakute:

Even Peter Obi was a Supreme Court Governor.

thatigboman:
how comes same INEC declared him winner and gave him certificate of returns?