Twenty-six civil society groups under the auspices of Eye on the Judiciary Coalition(EJC) have responded to the Appeal Court’s recent judgement on the Kano State gubernatorial elections.
In a recent meeting in Lafia, Nasarawa state, the group expressed shock as it described the judgement as a clear confirmation that justice in Nigeria is now available to the highest bidder.
The group further stated that a careful review of the judgement will reveal many inconsistencies and contradictions which point to partisanship and compromise.
According to the Coordinator of the EJC, Comrade Salisu Musa Yahaya, the aftermath of presidential election litigation that culminated in the Supreme Court of Nigeria upholding the victory of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the face of a daring allegation of forgery left many Nigerians wondering if at all we have a functional and independent judiciary.
This is especially evident as other contenders blamed the apex court for robbing Nigerians of their right to have honest and sincere leadership.
ECJ, however, noted that the recent Kano election judgement by the court of appeal, which affirms the draconian ruling of the tribunal that arrogated to itself the right to choose the governor for Kano state people, left no one in doubt that there is no justice in Nigeria.
The group observed that it must be noted that Nigeria’s judiciary, which in the case of Bola Tinubu V Peter Obi, ruled that the issue of party membership/leadership is an internal affair of the party and therefore not justiciable only to make now a U-turn to rob kano people of their right to choose a leader of their choice using technicalities that the same system.
“This is clear inconsistency, and the court contradicts itself,” the group said.
That coalition affirmed that the open court system we have in Nigeria is not by co-incidence; rather, it allowed the public to hold the system accountable and be as it may with the recent political system and the apparent compromise of Nigeria’s Judiciary succeeded in eroding public confidence in it and signifies the looming anarchy.
The group lamented that the most painful scenario that the judiciary seems to ignore is that none of the judicial officials now trying to decide for Kano hail from the state.
The group counselled the Governor of Kano State that even when all faith is lost in Nigeria’s Judiciary, he shall do one favour to this country, that is to appeal to the apex court for the judiciary to complete itself destruction if they affirm what lower courts put in the mind of Nigerians.
The group, however, insists that the judiciary may have one last opportunity to prove critics’ wrongs by restoring the popular will of the Kano people by re-affirming the popular victory of Governor Abba K. Yusuf.
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