‘Clerical error’ – appeal court clears air on Kano guber judgment CTC

The court of appeal has responded to the controversies surrounding the recently delivered judgment on the Kano governorship election dispute.

The appellate court in Abuja had on Friday affirmed the verdict of the Kano state governorship election petition tribunal which sacked Abba Yusuf, candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), as the governor.

However, the certified true copy of the judgment contained contradictory resolutions, with the judge ruling in favour of and against the governor at the same time.

Addressing the situation, Umar Bangari, chief registrar of the court of appeal, said the purported discrepancy was a clerical error that did not affect the court’s decision.

Bangari said order 23 rule 4 of the court of appeal handbook “empowers the court to correct any clerical error once detected by the court or any of the parties in the matter”.

The chief registrar assured that the clerical error would be rectified once parties in the matter file formal applications to that effect.

“What happened in the part of the judgment is just a mere clerical error that ought not to draw any issue. The Court is empowered to correct such clerical error and would be done as appropriate,” he said.