Lawyers Petition NJC, Demand Investigation Over Kano Guber Appeal Judgement

Some legal practitioners, under the auspices of Judiciary Watchdogs, have called on the Nigerian Judicial Commission (NJC) to investigate the circumstances surrounding the conflicting Appeal Court ruling on the Kano State governorship election.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, the spokesperson of the group, Barr. Emmanuel Agada said the judiciary has become an object of ridicule and tool in the hands of politicians.

Recall that the court had sacked Governor Abba Yusuf and declared the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s Nasiru Gawuna as the winner of the March poll.

But a Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgment emerged on Wednesday, affirming Yusuf’s victory in the exercise.

Barrister Agada lamented that some persons are desperate to remove Governor Abba Yusuf at all costs, even at the expense of the will and aspiration of an overwhelming majority of Kano citizens.

He, however, urged the Appellate Court to come to the rescue of the legal profession in Nigeria by thoroughly dealing with all the appeals arising from the 2023 electoral contest, particularly that of Kano and Plateau States.

The statement reads: “The recent judgment of the Court of Appeal that purported to sack the elected governor of Kano state, H.E Abba K. Yusuf, has become unimaginably scandalous, having come at the behest of many incurable inconsistencies that some persons may arguably pin to a pre-determined end, – to remove the Governor at every cost, even at the expense of the will and aspiration of an overwhelming majority of Kano citizens. Who voted for him in 2019 and again in 2023?

“It is shocking that despite the recent judgment of the Supreme Court, when the membership of the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, in the Labour Party was called into question, the membership of a party was an internal affair of the party, the Court of Appeal will on Friday, predicate its sack of the Governor of Kano state, H.E Abba K Yusuf, on his not being validated nominated by his party, the New Nigerian People’s Party (NNPP).

“Noting that he was not a member of the party. When has our hallowed temple of justice started reprobating and approbating? This question begs for an answer in the lips of every Nigerian regarding the political development in Kano state.

“The greatest of all the scandals that trailed the ruling in the Kano State Guber appeal, was the conflicting conclusions that were contained in the 72-page judgment of the Court of Appeal panel that sat over the case. While we have already written a letter to the Nigerian Judicial Commission (NJC) to investigate the circumstances surrounding the conflicting conclusions, we wish to also use this platform to express our displeasure as lawyers on the new low such actions have dragged the bench.

“As young lawyers, we look to the future, our struggle is for the older folks to bequeath to us, a legal profession that still commands the respect and reverence of the world. A judiciary that dispenses justice without fear nor favour. It is on the above basis that we have risen to raise this alarm that if the profession continues on this path, it will soon lose its essence. The future will be bleak and the world might soon pick stones against all of us.

“It is our hope and prayers that the Apex Court comes to the rescue of the legal profession in Nigeria by thoroughly dealing with all the appeals arising from the 2023 electoral contest, particularly that of Kano and Plateau states so that justice will not only be seen to have been done but manifestly done.”