A tribunal has sacked the New Nigeria Peoples Party’s (NNPP), member representing Tarauni Federal Constituency, Muktar Umar Yarima, over certificate forgery.
The National and State House of Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal sitting in Kano delivered its verdict on Thursday.
The three-man panel ruled that the primary school certificate tendered by Yarima was forged and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Hafizu Ibrahim Kawu, as the winner of the election and issue him with a Certificate of Return immediately.
Garba Galadanchi, the returning officer for Tarauni Federal Constituency in the general elections, had declared Yarima of NNPP as the winner of the Tarauni parliamentary election after scoring 26,273 votes, defeating Kawu of the APC, who scored 15,931 votes.
However, Kawu, a one time member, seeking re-election in the 2023 polls had approached the tribunal and challenged Yarima’s victory on the grounds of forged certificate and cases of irregularities including over-voting and non-compliance with the electoral act.
