The Nassarawa Local Government collation officer during the March 9 gubernatorial election in Kano State, Prof. Ibrahim Khalil Abdussalam, has told the election petition tribunal sitting in Kano that the Gama ward election result were cancelled at the state collation centre.
Abdussalam, who was a subpoenaed witness testifying for the All Progressives Congress (APC), which is the 3rd respondent, also told the court that as the local government collation officer, he noticed some discrepancies in the Gama results.
He said based on that, he asked the ward collation officer to return and correct the discrepancies.
Abdussalam said as a result of those discrepancies, parties’ agents agreed among themselves that the result should be cancelled because they could not agree on it.
“Dr Umar Tanko Yakasai, who was the PDP collation agent, spearheaded the protest and wrote the written agreement on behalf of the other agents,” he said.
The witness also told the court that Dr Yakasai later returned and said he had consulted a lawyer who advised them not to accept the cancellation, saying it was not appropriate.
He said then he (Yakasai) snatched the written agreement and tore it.
Prof Abdussalam also said at around 1am on March 11, while collation was going on at the local government collation centre, pandemonium broke out at there, and he was pushed aside from behind where he almost fell and the election results were carted away from his table.
He added that he had to run out and take cover.
During cross examination, counsel to PDP, Eyitayo Fatogun, asked the witness whether the agreement between the parties’ agents was the reason for the cancellation, to which he said no.
Fatogun also asked the collation officer whether he had received any report of violence from the returning officers of the polling units, and also whether any of the results were cancelled at the polling unit, to which he said no, insisting that the results were cancelled at the state collation centre.
Meanwhile, the 2nd respondent, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, had closed his case after presenting four witnesses, among whom was the director general of his campaign, Alhaji Nasiru Aliko Koki, who came as a star witness.
The tribunal adjourned to today for continuation of hearing.
