The Court of Appeal in Abuja has overturned a ruling by the Federal High Court in Kano that nullified the composition of the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KASIEC) and halted local government elections in the state.
In a judgment delivered on Friday, May 30, a three-member panel led by Justice Biobele Georgewill held that the Federal High Court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain matters concerning the composition of state electoral commissions and the qualifications of their members. The appellate court allowed three separate appeals filed by the Kano State Attorney-General, the Kano State House of Assembly, and KASIEC.
The court ruled that the appropriate forum for such matters is the state high court, not the federal judiciary.
In a fourth decision, the Court of Appeal also reversed another judgment from the Federal High Court that had rejected the list of candidates submitted to KASIEC by the Musa Kwankwaso faction of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) ahead of the last local government elections. The appellate court determined that the dispute over party leadership and which faction’s candidate list was valid was not within the jurisdiction of the court, noting that such matters were political questions and therefore non-justiciable.
The judgments effectively nullify previous orders by Federal High Court judge Simon Amobeda, who had on October 22, 2024, restrained KASIEC from conducting elections across Kano’s 44 local government areas. Amobeda had ruled that members of the electoral body were card-carrying members of the NNPP, in violation of sections 197 and 200 of the Nigerian Constitution. He had also directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to release the national voters’ register for the elections, and barred security agencies including the police and the Department of State Services (DSS) from supporting or providing protection for the polls.
With the appellate court’s decision, KASIEC is now legally cleared to proceed with local government elections in Kano State.
