The leadership of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) on Wednesday embarked on a Save-Our-Soul (SOS) mission to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the United States, Canada, British embassies, and the United Nations (UN) in respect of the November 17, 2023 Court of Appeal judgement that nullified the election of Abba Kabir Yusuf as governor of Kano State.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had on March 18, 2023, declared Kabir Yusuf of the NNPP as the duly elected governor of Kano State with 1,019,602 votes to beat his closest rival Nasir Gawuna of the All Progressive Congress (APC), who scored 890,705 votes.
The NNPP alleged that there are clandestine moves to truncate the will of the people of Kano State to upturn the victory of Governor Kabir Yusuf, which was freely given by the voters in March. The Nigerian Tribune reports that apart from winning the governorship election, the NNPP also won two senatorial seats, 19 House of Representatives seats, and 30 State Assembly seats across the country.
Addressing the media during the tour, the spokesperson of the defunct NNPP Presidential Campaign Council, Barrister Ladipo Johnson, said the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the Appeal Court has exposed the rulings of the appellate court to favour the APC. He, however, added that the NNPP will do everything within the ambit of the law to see that the Supreme Court embraces substantial justice by restoring the mandate of the Kano people and Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf.
He stated that the desperate move by the APC to hijack Kano will have political, economic, and social consequences, especially in terms of humanitarian repercussions, which is not good for the country as a whole.
While calling on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former Nigerian leaders, the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), and traditional and religious leaders of northern extraction for justice to prevail, Johnson said Nigeria must be allowed to go the way of the crisis in Ukraine and the Middle East because of the selfish agenda of some political desperados.
“All we ask for is justice to be done to the people of Kano by restoring our mandate given out freely by the people of Kano, who are today terribly traumatised and are in deep pain as a consequence of being democratically disempowered by the Tribunal and Appeal Court judgements without prejudice to the CTC that has exposed the dangerous game going on. It is not only a slap in the face but also a vicious blow to their hope of reaping democratic dividends for the choice they made.
“We are not oblivious to the fact that this attempt to forcefully hijack the Kano people’s mandate in the manner of a gangster is a ploy to destabilise 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 hijacking of a people’s mandate in Kano will no doubt have consequences politically, economically, and socially, especially in light of its humanitarian repercussions,” Ladipo said.
The representatives of the foreign missions assured the NNPP of their support for democracy and good governance while assuring the NNPP that their message would be conveyed to the appropriate authorities for proper action.
“Since 1999, when the present political dispensation started, we have deployed observers to monitor elections in Nigeria. I personally observed the election in Kano, and I saw enthusiastic people. Thank you very much for your letter. We’ll follow the case and the developments. I will convey your message to Ambassador Samuela Nsopi. I want to commend you for peacefully expressing your political views. It is always important when you engage on critical matters,” Agnieszka Torres De Oliveira, who spoke on behalf of the EU, said.
Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, NNPP national chairman Abba Kawu Ali said the essence of the tour was to create awareness about the miscarriage of justice done to the party by the Appeal Court and called on the judiciary to give nothing but justice as far as Kano is concerned.
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