The Court of Appeal said on Wednesday that there is no controversy in its judgment on the Kano State governorship election.
Newspapers had reported the discrepancy between what was read out in the open court and the contents of the Certified True Copy of the judgment delivered last Friday by the Abuja Division of the appellate court.
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At the open court, the three-member panel of Justices, led by M. A. Adumein, upheld the judgment of the Kano State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which sacked Governor Kabir Yusuf of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP).
However, the controversial certified true copy (CTC) of the judgment indicated that the appeal court judges affirmed the victory of Governor Yusuf.
On Wednesday, the NNPP, while briefing the press in Abuja, accused the Court of changing the judgment after the judges had concluded deliberations on the matter.
Reacting to the controversies, Chief Registrar of the Court of Appeal, Umar Bangari, on Wednesday, described the controversial content in the Certified True Copy of the judgment as a clerical error.
“What happened in the part of the judgment is just a mere clerical error that ought not to draw any issue. The court is empowered to correct such clerical errors, which would be done as appropriate. The clerical error would be rectified once parties in the matter file a formal application to that effect,” he said.
He cited Order 23 Rule 4 of the Court of Appeal Handbook, which empowered the court to correct any clerical error once detected by the court or any of the parties in the matter.
Bangari insisted that, contrary to insinuations, the judgment of the court as read out in the open court remained valid.