Opinion: Why the Judgement of Tribunal on the Kano’s Governorship Election Is Full of Legal Errors and Political Hatred.
By Sule Ya’u Tariwa
[email protected]
It has been almost a week, since the final decision to the embattled governorship election of Kano State, which was delivered by the Tribunal as one of the components of the Nigerian judiciary. The decision of the Tribunal has however left many legal professionals, commentators, social activists, and political analysts (including me) in a serious state of topsy-turvy and incredulity; as to whether or not the TECHNOLOGY is being applied before ruling out that case.
I watched several interviews and got variegated ideas from some well-known ‘professionals’ in the judicial realm, the majority of whom entirely condemned the way the Tribunal acted partially, and even described the whole verdict of the court as the indefensible that no compos mentis can depend on or prove its veracity.
Last night, I also watched a very interesting virtual conversation that a London-based Nigerian lawyer, in the person of Barrister Bulama Bukarti, organized and hosted, along with two lawyers, namely, Barrister Bashir Muhammad who happens to be a Respondent from NNPP and Barrister Abdulrazaq A. Ahmed who is from APC’s side.
I found that conversation (which lasted for more than 3 hours) very interesting and illuminating. Because it provides a wider understanding and more clarity to my curiosity and learned knowledge of how the case transpired. Knowing that some illustrative sides of the matter would be canvassed therein— by those lawyers who were/are part and parcels of the scenario, was the reason why I spared all my doings and followed the conversation wholly, here on the Facebook platform.
First of all, the host, Bulama Bukarti has mentioned the issue of “non-compliance” to the established INEC law, which the petitioner accused of violating the Electoral Act of 2022, that a certain number of votes scored by Abba Kabir Yusuf are neither stamped nor signed. Surprisingly, the court went ahead to adjudicate on that without proper examination of what section 137 of the Electoral Act of INEC says about that.
The APC’s lawyer has funnily tried to justify that, without him knowing that there is a ‘principle of margin’ which says that, in a situation whereby the number of rejected or canceled votes exceeds the number of ‘margin votes’, that election should be declared inconclusive for the conduction of rerun in the affected polling units.
But the Judge, who biasedly delivered their instructed assignment couldn’t even mind looking at those areas. She went ahead to nullify Governor Abba’s victory in favor of Nasiru Gawuna who was not even a party in the whole scenario.
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The other issue which was brought to the table of discussion yesterday was the issue of the “smuggling of unauthenticated votes”. In their petition, APC’s lawyers have raised over the smuggling of votes into the polling units by NNPP which according to them, over 200,000 votes were illegally brought to the polling units and added to the NNPP which paved the way for Abba’s victory as the Governor of Kano State.
I laughed hysterically at the moment of discussing this very risible and inconsequential tribulation raised by APC’s lawyers. This is because, according to constitutional or judicial law, no claim can be justified judicially, without acceptable and presentable evidence.
Though, Bulama Bukarti tries to covertly draw the attention of that lawyer, to remind him that APC’s claim about the smuggling of votes can never stand, because, they couldn’t mention a single polling unit where votes were smuggled into. Their mere citation was only at the LGs. How can sense even take this?
These as briefly given, are some of the topics discussed, but none is justifiable to what the Tribunal did.
In addition, I read in the ‘Documentary of the Judgement of Kano’ which is currently in the public domain, where one of those biased Judges uses vituperative terms to describe the members of Kwankwasiyya. In his emotionally-ridden brickbat, he attributed the words “terrorism and cultism” to the personalities of the members of the Kwankwasiyya movement in Kano State, and even referred to them (us) as ‘disgruntled bandits’.
It hurts me that, as a legal practitioner who spent years learning about the ‘nature of the law and human rights’, as an educated, highly regarded person of Justice Benson Anya’s caliber, can use these inventive, truculent, scurrilous, and reputationally-injured smears to describe the innocent members of Kwankwasiyya.
The obliques and hateful language used by that Judge, in that judgment documentary are enough to tell you how perverse, subdued, and biased those Judges are to the victory of Abba Kabir Yusuf; and the kind of repugnance they seem to bear in mind, to imperceptibly treat the members of Kwankwasiyya indirectly, for political affiliation.
Notwithstanding, I implore our political leaders in Kano under Kwankwasiyya, to please after the successful reclaiming of our mandate in the Court of Appeal, find a particular use against Justice Benson Anya who balefully accused us of being like terrorists, cultists, and bandits. These negative utterances must never be forgiven, and justice has to be done to the innocent followers of Kwankwasiyya who are struggling to install a legitimate government for the better Kano and Nigeria.
Lastly, I would use this opportunity to encourage the members and even those who are not registered in NNPP/Kwankwasiyya but pay attention to this issue that; the legitimate victory of Abba Kabir Yusuf will be easily and undoubtedly reaffirmed in the Court of Appeal. Because, by the given dictum, one may grasp how the entire process that nullified the victory of Abba Kabir Yusuf was full of errors, deviation from the established laws of both the constitution and Electoral Act; and expression of negative and objectionably scurrilous homilies by the Judges themselves who ought to have been impartial.
25th September, 2023
