The Chief Registrar of the Court of Appeal, Umar Bangari, said it was a typographical error that caused the discrepancy in its judgement on the Kano governorship election dispute.
There was a furore in Kano State Tuesday following the emergence of a Certified True Copy of the Court of Appeal judgment on the state governorship election, that dismissed the judgement of the Kano state Elections Petitions Tribunal, which sacked governor Abba Yusuf.
But Bangari said that what happened in the judgement body was a typo error that did not in any way invalidate or change the findings and conclusion of the court. He insisted that contrary to insinuations, the judgement of the court remained valid.
The chief registrar assured Nigerians that the error would be rectified once parties in the matter file formal application to that effect.
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.
Reacting to the bedlam Wednesday the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) said the Court of Appeal handling of the case was a monumental scandal.
“It is very unfortunate that we have come to this low state as a country regarding the judiciary. I am a legal practitioner, and it hurts me; it pains the heart that this is the sort of situation that we find ourselves in, said Ladipo Johnson NNPP spokesperson
“You just have a 14-day window to lodge your appeal at the Supreme Court, so when you deliver judgment on Friday and you don’t give the CTC to counsel till some five days later, it really makes no sense,” Johnson added.
