By Rabi’u Gama
I almost spent a sleepless night reading the Court of Appeal’s judgement on the Kano State Governorship Election Petition. The 72-page document has raised many questions and generated mixed and confusing reactions among millions of people, particularly in Kano, immediately after its release to the public.
After a calm reading of the judgement, it is evident that there is a significant error in the conclusion of the lead judgement. The conclusion of the lead judgement, which “…resolve all the issues in favour of the Appellant (AKY) against the 1st Respondent” and “…set aside the judgement of the Tribunal” and finally “awarded the sum of one million Naira in favour of the Appellant against the 1st Respondent” is just a mistake; a grave mistake, though, in my opinion, not fatal or unpardonable.
If you read the judgement carefully, you will see that the reasoning of the court on the merit of the case was decisively against the Appellant (AKY) in favor of the 1st Respondent (Gawuna). The only error – a very grievous error – is with regard to the conclusion of the lead judgment. This becomes more obvious when you look at the fact that all the two concurring judgements found the appeal to be “bereft of merit” and also (just like the lead judgement) “…dismissed it and upheld the judgement of the Trial Tribunal”.
From the reasoning of the Court, that conclusion is just what it is: a slip of the pencil or a clerical error – so to speak – which can be, in fact, should be, waived aside with a single nod of the head. That mistake alone cannot reasonably change the preceding reasonings and findings of the court. The error is grave. Or was it a Freudian Slip? By the way, a Freudian Slip is an unintentional mistake that reveals a person’s subconscious thoughts, wishes, or desires.
Therefore, in my humble opinion, AKY lost this appeal. The mistake in the lead judgement’s conclusion (a slip of the pencil) will not change a thing. AKY should head to the Supreme Court, as he has already expressed his intention to do so. A clerical error like this should not deter a further appeal to the Apex Court of the land. Otherwise, there will be stories that will surely break and destroy many hearts.
However, there are many questions: how could such a serious mistake go unnoticed? Didn’t my Lord re-read the judgement after drafting it for grammatical corrections and possible typographical errors? In their concurring judgements, the two other Justices on the panel said: “They have read the lead judgement in draft (as it is customary for fellow judges to do) and adopted all the reasonings and the conclusion therein as theirs?”. Does that mean they, too, did not see that serious mistake while “reading the judgement in [the] draft”? What about the Registrar of the Court? Didn’t he also see the mistake before releasing the Certified Copy of the judgment to the world? So many questions to ask.
Rabiu Gama is a student from the Faculty of Law at Bayero University, Kano. He can be reached via rabiuminuwa327@gmail.com.