A group, Stand Up Nigeria, has demanded the urgent relocation of Appeal Court justices from Kano to Abuja over alleged threats and intimidation by supporters of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP.
The group called on the NNPP leadership and the Kano State government to openly retract violent threats directed at the Appeal Court justices by the party’s supporters, including a commissioner serving under Governor Abba Yusuf.
The National Coordinator of the group, Sunday Attah, made the call while addressing a press conference on Saturday in Abuja.
The group recalled that the Kano State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sacked Yusuf and declared Nasir Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress, APC, as the duly elected governor of Kano State.
Attah said: “In view of the aforementioned, we condemn the leadership of the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, who have been threatening the judges and general peace of Kano State using its supporters, to understand that, trying to intimidate the judiciary in order to force the judges to their side would amount to miscarriage of justice as the law is blind with a sharp sword.
“You don’t have to intimidate the judiciary or cause war because you lost an election. The tenure is four years after which a fresh election would be conducted.
” You may prepare yourself to contest again instead of sponsoring people to blackmail highly respected Justices of the election petition tribunal and intimidate the Appeal Court judges all in a bid to reverse a sound judgement already delivered.
“We must understand that our justices are not spirit. They don’t have bulletproof heads or bulletproof chests and at any time they are threatened, it is the responsibility of the Nigerian government to protect them.
“If there is a threat to their lives in any state of the Federation, our call is to the National Judicial Council, NJC, to quickly relocate them to a conducive environment where they would dispense justice without fear or favour.
“Any state that is toxic and threatening the Justices, the NJC should relocate them to Abuja. There is no law that says the judgement must be delivered in the state.”
