• Vows to upturn verdict
From Okwe Obi, Abuja
The New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), has said the Kano State Election Petition Tribunal verdict that sack Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf and recognised the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Nasiru Gawuna, as the duly elected governor, was momentary.
NNPP Acting Deputy National Chairman,
Prince Nwaeze Onu, told journalists yesterday in Abuja, that said the party would reclaim it’s verdict.
Onu claimed the Tribunal arrived at what he called an “unjust judgement by unfairly” subtracting 165,663 votes from the Governor’s tally in order to enable it unfairly award the election result to the candidate of the ruling APC.
He said: “It is now very clear that our democracy is under serious threat, and there is the need for urgent concerted effort to save it from total annihilation.
“Without being immodest, our Party can pride itself as a party that is not desperate for power.
“That is why in spite of the shortcomings of the last general elections, especially, with regard to the disenfranchisement of millions of our voters across the country, we decided not to approach the Tribunal, in view of the tense situation in the country then.
“Instead, we decided to focus on building our party for future electoral engagements, hoping the future is bright for the growth of democracy in Nigeria.
“Unfortunately, the judgement by the Kano State Election Petition Tribunal on the March 18, 2023, Governorship election is capable of eroding whatever confidence one has in the judiciary of this great country.
“The reported judgement nullified the free, credible and globally acclaimed fair election of our Governorship Candidate, Engr Abba Kabir Yusuf and brazenly awarded the election to the APC candidate, Nasiru Gawuna.
“The Tribunal arrived at this unjust judgement by unfairly subtracting 165,663 votes from the Governor’s tally in order to enable it unfairly award the election result to the candidate of the ruling APC.
“In doing so the Tribunal obviously affirms its belief that the vote tally of the APC Candidate was sacrosanct. The Supreme Court in many cases has stated its position on this matter in earlier judgements.
“It is going to be a hard nut to crack for the Kano State Election Petition Tribunal to convince a non-partisan Nigerian that in an election cycle with five different polls, (Presidential, Senatorial, House of Representatives, Governorship and House of Assembly) the NNPP won in all except the Governorship election.
“For the sake of emphasis, the NNPP Presidential Candidate, His Excellency Senator Rablu Musa Kwanjwaso, Ph.D, FNSE defeated the Candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu with a wide margin. In the same vein, NNPP won two Senatorial seats as against APC’s one seat.
“NNPP won 18 House of Representatives seats as against APC four; and In the House of Assembly, NNPP won a clear majority of seats as against APC’s meager number of seats it won. And yet the Kano State Election Petition Tribunal believes it was over-voting that gave NNPP majority votes in the Governorship election.
“We want APC to know that it is not possible to hide behind one finger. Their threat to take Kano back by force, like a mirage, has only materialized momentarily.
“NNPP will get back its mandate freely given by the good people Kano of State within the ambit of the law and the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“We wish to state emphatically that although the judgement was a clear and deliberate miscarriage of justice and therefore a disappointment, our faith in the judiciary remains unshaken. Every discerning person knows that NNPP won in all the elections in Kano State.
“The APC knew right from the very beginning that it was hugely unpopular in Kano State, that led it to declare “total war on the people of the State during the last election.
“You will recall that a sitting member of the House of Representatives led a group of hired hooligans to our Secretariat and burnt down the building with our members inside, and committed cold blooded mass murder of innocent people in broad daylight.
“The blood of those murdered during the election is crying for justice and will continue to haunt the perpetrators to their own ultimate end.
“This and many other wanton lawlessness visited on the people of Kano State without some of those in law enforcement raising a voice, much less lifting a finger, are part of the reasons why they would want to spare no efforts in attempting to mount this electoral heist in broad daylight, by all indecent means, and rob the people of Kano State of the mandate they’ve freely given to their Governor.
“But we have bad news for them. They have already failed because, like all brazen daylight robberies, the perpetrators are known, and the exercise will ultimately prove futile.”