Court Directs KANSIEC To Proceed With Kano LG Elections

The Kano State High Court has directed the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC) to proceed with the local government elections scheduled for Saturday, October 26.

This order contradicts a previous decision by a Federal High Court in Kano that had called into question the makeup of the electoral panel.

In a ruling on Friday, October 25, Justice Sanusi Ma’aji, who was responding to a lawsuit filed by KANSIEC against the All Progressives Congress (APC) and 13 other parties, ruled that KANSIEC is legally authorized to manage, oversee, and conduct local government elections throughout the State’s 44 local government regions.

Justice Ma’aji also stressed that any attempts to interfere with the electoral process were null and void.

Moreover, the judge directed the security forces to guarantee the safety of voters and the safeguarding of individuals and property during the election, which is scheduled for October 26.

Previously, on Tuesday, Justice Simon Amobeda of the Federal High Court in Kano had suspended the election due to worries that the chairman of KANSIEC was a member of the ruling NNPP in the State.

This earlier decision had raised alarms among state officials and civil society organizations, who contended that it compromised the democratic rights of Kano.

However, the governor of Kano state, Abba Kabir Yusuf, rejected this decision and announced that the election would proceed as planned.