The Court of Appeal has insisted that its judgment sacking Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf stands.
This is amidst the controversy trailing the contradictions in the certified true copy (CTC) of the judgment.
The CTC showed that in the lead judgment delivered by Justice Moore Aseimo Abraham Adumein, the judge held in one of the concluding paragraphs on Page 68 that “I will conclude by stating that the live issues in this appeal are hereby resolved in favour of the 1st respondent and against the appellant.”
The appellant in the appeal is Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf; while the 1st respondent is the All Progressives Congress (APC) with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the NNPP as 2nd and 3rd respondents.
The judge went further to hold that “In the circumstances, I resolve all the issues in favour of the appellant and against the 1st respondent… The sum of N1,000,000.00 (one million naira only) is hereby awarded as costs in favour of the appellant and against the 1st respondent.”
The Chief Registrar of the Court of Appeal, Umar Mohammed Bangari, in a statement last night, admitted that the contradictory parts of the judgement were clerical errors.
He, however, noted that a clerical error does not in any way invalidate or change the findings and conclusion of the court.
He declared that what happened in the certified judgment was nothing but clerical errors.
He said the errors would be rectified once parties in the matter filed formal application to that effect.
He noted that Order 23 Rule 4 of the Court of Appeal Hand Book, which empowers the court to correct any clerical error once detected by the court or any of the parties in the matter, supports the position of the court.
He emphasized that contrary to insinuations, the judgment of the court remained valid.
“What happened in the part of the judgment is just a mere clerical error that ought not to draw any issue. The Court is empowered to correct such clerical error and would be done as appropriate,” he said.
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