The Court of Appeal has reversed the October 22, 2024 judgment of a Federal High Court in Kano that nullified the composition of the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KASIEC) and invalidated the local government election conducted on October 26, 2024.
In three unanimous judgments delivered on Friday, a three-member panel led by Justice Biobele Abraham Georgewill ruled that the Federal High Court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain cases concerning the composition of state electoral bodies and the qualification of their members.
The appellate court allowed the three appeals filed by the Kano State Attorney General, the Kano State House of Assembly, and KANSIEC, subsequently striking out the suits filed before the Federal High Court for want of jurisdiction. The court determined that the High Court of Kano State was the proper forum with the required jurisdiction to hear such matters.
Jurisdictional Competence
Justice Abubakar Mahmud Talba, who delivered the lead judgment in appeal CA/KN/290/2024, found that Justice Simon Ameboda erred when he assumed jurisdiction over the suit filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its Kano State Chairman, Abdullahi Abbas.
The APC had challenged the composition of KASIEC, alleging that the state government nominated partisan politicians and members of the New Nigeria People's Party (NNPP) to the electoral body. Justice Talba ruled that these claims fell outside the jurisdictional competence of the Federal High Court.
Similarly, Justice Georgewill prepared the lead judgments in the other two appeals—CA/KN/291/2024 and CA/KN/233/2024—making comparable findings and issuing the same orders regarding the original suit filed before the Federal High Court in Kano.
NNPP Candidates List Dispute
In a fourth judgment delivered on the same day, the Court of Appeal also reversed another ruling by Justice Amobeda from October 24, 2024. That judgment had rejected the list of candidates submitted to KASIEC by the Musa Kwakwanso faction of the NNPP for the local government election.
Justice Oyejoju Oyebiola Oyewumi, who delivered the lead judgment in appeal CA/KN/20/2025, held that the subject matter related to an internal leadership dispute within the NNPP, which was outside the court's jurisdiction.
"No court has the power to compel an electoral body to accept the candidates list of a faction of a party against that of the other," Justice Oyewumi stated. She emphasized that political parties should resolve their internal disputes through existing mechanisms in their constitutions, adding that party leadership issues are not justiciable.
The Appeal Court's decisions effectively reinstate the results of the October 26, 2024 local government elections in Kano State, providing clarity on the jurisdictional boundaries between federal and state courts in electoral matters.
