The National and State House of Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal in Kano has nullified the election of Muktar Umar Yerima of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), ordering the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withdraw his certificate of return.
The tribunal’s ruling follows a petition by Hafizu Kawu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who challenged Yerima’s eligibility to contest the House of Representatives election for Tarauni Federal Constituency.
Yerima had initially been declared the winner by INEC. However, the three-man tribunal panel, led by Justice I.P. Chima, found that the lawmaker was not qualified because he allegedly forged his primary school certificate.
The tribunal rejected Yerima’s defense that a change of name in 2022 explained discrepancies in his documents, noting that he had been using three different names (Umar Mukhtar Zakari) on his international passports since 2009, while the primary school certificate still bore the name Umar Mukhtar.
Furthermore, Hausawa Primary School, the institution that issued the certificate, disowned the document tendered by Yerima. Based on these findings, the tribunal ruled that the NNPP effectively had no valid candidate in the election.
The ruling casts uncertainty over the representation of Tarauni Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives and marks a significant setback for the NNPP in Kano.
