The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has postponed judgment in a series of appeals tied to the controversy surrounding the 2024 local government elections held in Kano State. The legal conflict centers on two previous rulings by the Federal High Court in Kano, which declared the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC) improperly constituted.
The appellate court, led by Justice Georgewill Ekanem, heard five different appeals on the matter on Tuesday. All the cases trace back to the Federal High Court’s decision that invalidated the operations of KANSIEC and stopped the commission from overseeing the local council polls.
One of the appeals, identified as CA/KN/20/2025, was filed by KANSIEC. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and four others were listed as respondents. In another case, CA/KN/233/2024, the Kano State House of Assembly and a co-appellant brought a challenge against Aminu Aliyu Tiga and 14 others.
Other appeals include CA/KN/290/2024, presented by the Attorney General of Kano State and six other parties against the All Progressives Congress (APC) and three more, and CA/KN/291/2024, filed again by KANSIEC and eight others. The Kano State House of Assembly and six individuals were named respondents in this matter.
Legal counsel Chief Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), who represented the Kano House of Assembly in CA/KN/233/2024, argued that the Federal High Court had no legal power to decide the case. He also noted that the lawsuit filed by Tiga and the APC was already outside the allowed legal time window. Additionally, he stated that the plaintiffs did not have the necessary legal rights to file the suit in the first place.
Back in October 2024, Justice Simon Amobeda of the Federal High Court ruled against KANSIEC, halting elections across all 44 local government areas in the state. The court found that members of KANSIEC were affiliated with the ruling New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), which went against the Nigerian Constitution’s requirements under Sections 197 and 200.
Justice Amobeda also directed INEC not to provide Kano’s voter register for the election. Furthermore, security agencies, including the police and the Department of State Services, were barred from offering any protection or assistance for the electoral process.
The appellants—Kano lawmakers and other stakeholders—argued that only a state high court should have handled a case concerning a state electoral body. They maintained that the Federal High Court overstepped its jurisdiction.
