Kano Governorship Election: Over 500 Lawyers To Defend APC’s Gawuna in Supreme Court

Agency Report

No fewer than 500 private legal practitioners have volunteered to defend Alhaji Nasir Gawuna, All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Kano State at the Supreme Court.

The lawyers, under the aegis of the Guardians of Democracy and Rule of Law, a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO)said the move was to save the country’s democracy from vote riggers and serial election fraudsters.

Mr Joseph Onwudiwe, Spokesman of the group made this known at a news conference on Tuesday in Abuja. Gawuna was APC’s governorship candidate in the last March 18, Kano State governorship election.

 

Having secured victory at the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal and Appeal Court, the legal practitioners expressed confidence that Gawuna would again win at the Supreme Court.

“Nigerians have observed keenly the situation unfolding in Kano State regarding the March 18 Governorship election.

“As a group saddled with the onerous responsibility of safe guarding our democratic ethos and values, we are no longer comfortable with the unwarranted attacks on the judiciary.

“And moves to blackmail the Court into giving backing to wanton electoral malfeasance and vote heist.

“We will no longer fold our arms as lawyers and watch the judiciary be continuously harangued and the temple of justice desecrated by a group of people who failed to perfect an electoral heist,” he said.

Onwudiwe applauded the courage and sound reasoning that resonated in the judgments of the tribunal and the Court of Appeal.

He recalled that the judgments allowed the overwhelming yearnings and aspirations of the majority of Kano indegines as expressed in the valid number of votes cast in the March 18 Kano Governorship election to stand against the selfish interest of a few.

He said the group was not surprised that the sacked Governor of Kano State and his hired agents had become insistent in selling propaganda in the name of a contradiction in the CTC of the Appeal Court Judgment.

“Nigerians will have nothing but pity for a party in a suit who finds no premise upon which to launch a successful appeal against a judgment backed by law and fact.

“May we repeat here that the judgment of the Court of Appeal on this case was a very straight forward one which rightly dismissed the appeal of Abba Yusuf and upheld his sack by the tribunal,” he said.

He explained that the courts envisaged clerical errors in judgment and therefore embedded in their handbook and rules, enactments that empowered it to vary its judgement to reflect its original intentions.

Onwudiwe urged Nigerians not to cave into the misleading narrative being pushed by the agents of the Kano Governor who were grasping at the clerical error on page 67 of the CTC of the Court of Appeal judgment.

This, he said, was geared to bring the honourable justices who delivered the sound judgment to public disrepute.

He stressed that the importance of the judiciary in keeping the country’s democracy alive and thriving could never be overemphasised.

He, therefore, implored the Supreme Court to dispense justice in the appeal before it without taking into consideration, the distractions and attempts at blackmail.

“We are with the Judiciary and we assure them of our unflinching support as they move to save Nigeria’s democracy from vote riggers and election fraudsters.

“We must sanitise our electoral system now and build a strong democratic wall against vote inflation and other electoral malfeasance,” he stressed.

He called on peace-loving Nigerians to arise in defense of the country’s democracy from desperate politician who were using every illegal means to blackmail the judiciary into giving authenticity to electoral fraud.

“This they are doing by allowing a man who manufactured over 165,000 votes to seize power at the expense of the overwhelming yearnings and aspirations of the majority of Kano indegines

“As clearly expressed in the valid votes cast at the March 18 Kano governorship election,” the group spokesman said.(https: newsatlarge.ng)