The election of Muktar Umar Yerima of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has been nullified by the National and State Houses of Assembly elections petition tribunal in Kano.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) named Yerima the winner of the Tarauni Federal Constituency House of Representatives election.
However, the tribunal’s three-man panel, chaired by Justice I.P. Chima, ruled that Yerima was ineligible because he faked his primary school diploma.
According to the tribunal, the petitioner, Hafizu Kawu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who challenged Yerima’s election, was successful in proving a case of forgery against the NNPP candidate.
As a result, the tribunal ruled that the NNPP had no candidate in the election and that all votes cast for Yerima were invalid.
It then ordered INEC to remove the certificate of return already provided to Yerima.
The panel ruled that Yerima’s claim that he changed his name in 2022 did not hold weight because he had been using three names (Umar Mukhtar Zakari) on his international passports since 2009, and his elementary school diploma still shows Umar Mukhtar.
It further stated that the aforementioned primary school, Hausawa Primary School, has rejected the certificate presented by the ousted legislator.
