Ahead of the Supreme Court pronouncement on the pending appeal before it on the Kano State governorship election, a Coalition of Civil Society Organisations for Democracy, has advised Justices of the Supreme Court not to surrender to the outcry from chieftains of the New Nigerian People’s Party (NNPP)....CONTINUE READING
Recall that the Kano State Election Petition Tribunal and the Court of Appeal had affirmed the All Progressives Congress candidate, Dr. Nasir Gawuna as the Governor-Elect of Kano State.
An appeal filed by the NNPP and the Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf is pending before the apex court. Street protests have since trailed the pronouncements in the North West states against the pronouncements of the Justices of the Tribunal and the Appeal Court.
Addressing journalists in Abuja on Thursday, National Secretary of the Coalition, Otunba Eniola Enaife, who alleged that former Kano state governor and the NNPP Presidential candidate, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, was the masterminds of the protests in Kano State, admonished the apex court not to be swayed by emotional blackmail.
He said: “We must stand as a people to resist every form of intimidation, blackmail against the President and the judiciary. If we allow Kwankwaso and his gang to go scot free, others will follow his steps which is too dangerous for us as a Nation.
“One may be tempted to ask, why is it too important for Mr Kwankwaso and his cronies to set Nigeria on fire because their party lost Kano State Governorship elections? Kwankwaso has lost election before as governor, he stage a come back and was reelected. Why is he now finding it difficult to prepare for another election?
“They have arranged to occupy the Supreme Court premises and foreign missions in the Country even though the Board of trustee of the NNPP in a press conference has agreed that Engr Abba Kabir Yusuf was not a member of their party as of the time he was elected Governor of Kano State.
“This act is against the tenets of democracy hence we in the Coalition for Democracy have come out to speak and act according to the rule of law. We demand immediate arrest of the Leader of the Kwankwasiyya Movement, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso now to stabilise the State.
“For us as coalition, we are working voluntarily with other prominent CSOs both in Kano state and around the country to gather intelligence around the key leaders of NNPP, APC, PDP and Labour Party in Kano State in the interest of peace and tranquility of the state and Nigeria.
We shall not hesitate to raise alarm whenever we notice any sinister move to cause trouble before and after the judgement of the Supreme Court regarding the Kano Governorship election.
“Therefore, we restate the call for the arrest of key leaders of Kwankwasiyya Movement and some sympathisers of Governor Abba Yusuf, who are bent on causing trouble if the outcome of Supreme Court do not favour them. The Attorney General of Kano State
“We also call on the Supreme Court Justices not to be intimidated by the threat of this red-cap wearing group as the majority of Kano people are in support of the earlier verdicts of the Tribunal and the Appeal Court.”
