The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), stormed the Abuja offices of the United Nations (UN) and ECOWAS offices in protest of the judgement of the governorship election petitions tribunal and the Court of Appeal which removed Abba Kabir Yusuf from office as governor of Kano State.
While lawyers of the NNPP had rejected the CTC of the appellate court judgment, alleging that the governor won the case, the court asked for the withdrawal of the CTC, insisting it was an error.
Worried by the inconsistency in the verdicts which nullified the election of their only governor, members of the party took to the streets in protest, just as they submitted petitions at the United Nations (UN) and ECOWAS offices in Abuja.
The NNPP described the verdict on the Kano governorship case as a miscarriage of Justice, calling on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, world leaders and former Nigerian leaders to intervene.
National chairman of the NNPP, Abba Kawu Ali, said they were protesting because there are clandestine moves to truncate the will of the vast majority of the people of Kano State in respect of the governor they freely and willingly elected on March 18, 2023.
Ali noted that Abba Kabir Yusuf won the election with 1,019,602 votes- making it the highest number of votes scored by any elected governor in the entire country in the last election.
He however said, “Sadly, the tribunal and the Appeal courts have both recently overturned this overwhelming victory in two separate contentious judgements, which many legal luminaries have described as “strange to the laws of the land”, ignoring substantial justice. And in effect, snatching from the NNPP and the good people of Kano State a mandate freely given to their Candidate, Engr. Abba Kabir Yusuf. As Almighty God will have it, the CTC of the Appeal Court judgement is at variance with the judgement read by the 3 – man Justice of the Appeal Court. Clearly showing that the judgement is in our favour. As a party, we are not taking this development lightly and will do anything within the ambit of the law to take what the entire world knows is ours.
“Everybody in and outside Kano State knows that the people of Kano State freely voted for the NNPP Governorship Candidate and that he won the election fair and square.
“While the NNPP has proceeded to the Supreme Court to seek redress, we are concerned with the peace and stability of Kano State in particular and Northern Nigeria, in general. We therefore urge the Supreme Court to embrace substantial justice by restoring the mandate of the people of Kano State and His Excellency, Abba Kabir Yusuf.
“As we head towards this next level of adjudication, which of course is the final, there is palpable tension in Kano. The city’s atmosphere is enveloped in anger, with a sense of shock and agony pervading every discussion on the streets, offices and homes. To say that there is a combustible mix of provocation and betrayal welling up in the minds of the citizens of Kano is an understatement. The people are bitter, enraged, exasperated and fuming with fury. The security situation today in Kano State has become unpredictable.
“Nonetheless, we are not oblivious of the fact that this attempt to forcefully hijack the Kano people’s mandate in the manner of a gangster is a ploy to destabilize Kano State, and the entire Northern Region.
“We hasten to put it on record at this moment for global leaders that this is an ill-advised move whose consequences will reverberate not only in Nigeria, but also in Africa and the whole world. The deliberate hijack of a people’s mandate in Kano will no doubt have consequences politically, economically, and socially especially in light of its humanitarian repercussions”.
According to Ali, Kano is the second largest city in Nigeria with a population of over 20 million people, adding that the state has the second largest consumption of all energy types and is host to thousands of kilometres of AKK gas pipelines to Niger Republic, North Africa and Europe for the benefit of a better world.
“Kano is also host to the largest textile and food markets in Nigeria and Africa – from the Darwanau food market to the Kwari and Singer markets. Kano indeed is home to the largest horde of unemployed youths whose only hope is the mandate they freely gave to the NNPP and His Excellency Abba Kabir Yusuf.
“The political and economic significance and sophistication of Kano to Nigeria, Africa and the world economy cannot be over-emphasized. Therefore, any attempt to foment crisis and probably war in Kano through the instrumentality of the Courts by taking away the mandate of their people in Kano is a clear case of trying to set Kano and the entire Northern Nigeria ablaze, thereby creating a huge liability for the world and causing a massive humanitarian crisis because refugees will be headed towards Niger, Chad, Mali, libya, Morocco, Algeria enroute to Europe.
“To avoid this huge problem for the world in addition to the crisis in Ukraine, Middle East and other troubled spots, we are therefore calling on all embassies to alert their various Presidents, Prime Ministers, Heads of Governments, Heads of international Organisations, Human Rights Organisations and the International Court of Justice to draw the attention of the Nigerian President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and specifically Nigerian Judiciary and Supreme Court, to do justice to Kano State, the NNPP and the Governor,” Alli added.
He further said it is not only a slap in the face, but also a vicious blow to the people’s hope of reaping democratic dividends for the choice they made.
