The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) on Sunday, condemned the comment of the Kano State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal which described supporters of the party as “bandits and terrorists”.
NNPP noted that the statement of the court was to tarnish the image of its leaders and members.
The party in a statement released through its National Auditor, Ladipo Johnson, said it was surprised with the portions of the publication where a member of the panel, Justice Benson Anya, discredited NNPP members, who, he described “the gang of Red Cap wearers who, like a violent and terrorist cult, chased us out of Kano and put us in the fear of our lives”.
Johnson reiterated that the NNPP would “consider all options including petitioning the National Judicial Council over the utterances of the Judge”, and shall appeal the tribunal’s verdict.
INFORMATION NIGERIA learnt that Justice Anya, had earlier said that: “Instead of some Kano politicians to be allowed to use banditry and violence to abort democracy in Kano State, justice will be used to stop them from destroying democracy in Kano and upward.”
However, Johnson, condemned the comment of the judge adding that it is unbecoming of a judge and defender of the law.
READ MORE: Tribunal Sacks NNPP’s Abba Kabir As Kano Governor
He said: “Of course, the indecorous, libellous and outright condemnable comments credited to the panel and especially those portions where Justice Benson Anya went beyond his judicial bounds of immunity and acted as if he is an interested party in the matter by casting aspersions on the leadership and members of NNPP, are spurious, regrettable, uncouth and based on sentiments.
“To any rational observer, it should be glaringly obvious that Justice Anya’s lengthy rebuke, insult and insensitive remarks against NNPP individually and collectively were rather unprecedented, and not based on the facts, evidence and law before the Tribunal. One would think that he has taken sides as an interested party and as such has prejudiced the judgement of the court.”
According to him, Justice Benson Anya may have been trying to curry public sympathy by painting the NNPP as “wearers of the red cap terrorists and bandits.”
He said it was “a terrible application of sentiments to validate a historic and epic miscarriage of justice”.
