By Kamil Opeyemi
The Kano State National and State House of Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal, on Thursday, nullified the election of Muktar Yerima as the lawmaker representing Tarauni Federal Constituency of Kano State in the House of Representatives.
Yerima contested the February 25 National Assembly election on the platform of the New Nigeria People’s Party.
The tribunal, however, nullified his election on the grounds of certificate forgery.
In Yerima’s place, the tribunal declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Hafizu Kawu, as the winner of the poll.
The three-man tribunal, chaired by Justice I.P. Chima, made the decision while giving judgment on a petition filed by Kawu to challenge Yerima’s declaration as the winner of the poll by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The tribunal found in favour of Kawu, highlighting a compelling case of alleged forgery against Yerima. As a result, the tribunal determined that the NNPP had no legitimate candidate in the election and declared all the votes cast for Yerima as “wasted votes”.
“After a thorough examination of the evidence presented before us, it has been established beyond reasonable doubt that Muktar Umar Yerima submitted a forged primary school certificate to the INEC. This act disqualifies him from holding the position he was elected to,” the court ruled
The tribunal also directed INEC to retract the certificate of return that had previously been issued to Yerima, effectively stripping him of his elected position.
The petitioner in the case, Hafizu Kawu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), had challenged Yerima’s eligibility and presented evidence proving the forgery allegations.
In his defense, Yerima had claimed to have legally changed his name in 2022.
However, the tribunal rejected this argument, emphasising that Yerima’s inconsistent use of multiple names – Umar Mukhtar Zakari – on his passport since 2009 undermined his credibility.
Furthermore, the primary school in question, Hausawa Primary School, disowned the certificate presented by Yerima, adding weight to the tribunal’s decision.