Kano State came under a 24-hour curfew on Wednesday, September 20 after the Kano State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal delivered its judgment in a petition filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) against the election of Governor Abbas Yusuf. The tribunal nullified the election of Governor Yusuf of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) and declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Nasir Gawuna as winner of the March 18 election. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had announced that the candidate of the NNPP, Abbas Yusuf scored a total of 1,019,602 votes while the APC candidate, Nasir Gawuna scored a total of 890,705 votes in the election. However, in arriving at its decision, the tribunal deducted 165,663 votes from the total number of votes scored by Yusuf, describing them as invalid as the affected ballot papers were not stamped or signed.
In April 2023, the APC and its candidate had filed a petition against the election of Governor Yusuf alleging among other things that the Governor Yusuf did not score the majority of lawful votes, as some of the votes cast were invalid and that the INEC Resident electoral Commissioner in Kano State was wrong to declare Yusuf winner of the election as the number of cancelled votes was more than the margin of lead between the leading candidates (NNPP and APC). The APC therefore asked the tribunal to declare the election inconclusive or declare the APC candidate as winner of the election. The Tribunal chose the latter option of declaring the APC candidate winner. Tensions have since risen in Kano. However, the Governor has called for calm and indicated that the tribunal’s verdict will be appealed.