Appeal Court Reinstates Kano LG Election, Declares Federal High Court Lacked Jurisdiction
The Court of Appeal has overturned a Federal High Court ruling in Kano that had invalidated the composition of the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KASIEC) and the local government elections it conducted on October 26, 2024.
Delivering three unanimous judgments on Friday, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal, led by Justice Biobele Abraham Georgewill, ruled that the Federal High Court lacked the jurisdiction to adjudicate matters concerning the composition of state electoral commissions and the qualifications of their members.
According to the appellate court, such issues fall squarely within the jurisdiction of the State High Courts, not the Federal High Courts. As a result, the Court of Appeal allowed the three appeals filed by the Kano State Attorney General, the Kano State House of Assembly, and KASIEC. It also struck out the suits earlier entertained by the Federal High Court on grounds of lack of jurisdiction.
In a separate but related ruling issued the same day, the Court of Appeal also overturned another judgment of the Federal High Court in Kano. That earlier judgment had rejected the list of candidates submitted by the Musa Kwakwanso-led faction of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) for the October 2024 local government election.
The appellate court held that the matter, which revolved around a leadership dispute within the NNPP and conflicting lists of nominated candidates submitted by rival factions, also fell outside the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court. It emphasized that questions of party leadership and candidate nomination are internal party affairs and are not justiciable in a court of law.
With these rulings, the Court of Appeal has reaffirmed the legitimacy of the October 2024 local government elections in Kano and the authority of KASIEC, effectively restoring both the commission’s credibility and the validity of the electoral process it supervised.