Ahead of the Supreme Court’s judgement on Kano governorship dispute, a non-governmental movement, Northern Coalition Youths Movement Initiative (NYMI), has accused President Bola Tinubu-led administration and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of an alleged plot to destabilize Kano in order to weaken the economy of the region.
The group made this known at an elaborate world press conference at Arewa House in Kaduna state on Saturday.
The secretary general of the movement, Ibrahim Inuwa, who spoke at the media parley, pointed to series of alleged moves being made by the government to undermine the region by using judiciary to subvert the people’s mandate in Kano, Plateau and Zamfara.
The group observed with dismay, how the much esteemed judiciary has become the lapdog to the executive arm of government which they said is expected to check as an independent entity.
“Gone are the days when judges dish out logical judgments that are acceptable to the litigants in any disputes. It is however sad that the administration of Pres. Bola Tinubu and APC has resorted to using the judiciary to snatch what it has lost at the ballot.
“Under the APC, the votes of the people no longer count, this is because the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has become an extended part of the ruling party. In a bid to do the bidding of the APC,
“Judiciary has now become the rubber stamp to the massive scale of electoral robbery in the country. Where the INEC fails to award victories to APC candidate, the same courts are the avenue where the victories of the opposition parties are now only arrested but also stolen and given to the APC.
“Nigerians are living witnesses to what is going on in the Court of Appeal with respect to the governorship poll in Kano, Plateau and Zamfara States where the opposition parties have won the state at the ballot box and the attempt by the Federal Government to snatch these states from the winning political parties.
“What is even more embarrassing is the case of Kano where the Court of Appeal is still finding it hard to defend its verdict on the election which many have come to see as very ignoble and horrible. The fact that the verdict is tainted was further shown aa the NNPP try to secure the certified true copy of the judgment revealed the underhand dealings that must have happened with the document revealing contradictory outcomes.
While some paragraphs upheld the election of Gov Abba Kabir Yusuf of the NNPP as duly elected.
“The embarrassment created by the nasty scenario is yet to abate as we address you as the action has further put the judiciary in the negative spot in the minds of right thinking Nigerians who have lost faith in that vital arm of the government.
“The most laughable verdict also is the issue of internal affairs of each political parties which is clearly enshrined in our electoral act and which the supreme court has long settled, yet that is the issue the same judiciary is using to upturn Kano’s mandates which was freely given to NNPP, ” Inuwa said.
The coalition also accused the Tinubu’s government of waging war against leading political lights from the region in a bid to destroy or whittle down their relevance before the poll.
Inuwa said the coalition has been monitoring the development for some time, he however urged leaders in the North to live up to their responsibility of protecting the interest of their region.
He added : “We wish to draw the attention of the people of the North to an ongoing sinister plot by Pres. Tinubu and the ruling All progressives Congress APC to politically decimate the North and render it impotent ahead of the forthcoming 2027 general election.
“The coalition lamented the fate of the immediate past Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufa’i in the hands of the current government despite the support it gave to President Bola Tinubu during the electioneering campaign.
“One individual whose support and assistance to the emergence of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufa’i who worked on his colleagues in the North to sway victory for President Tinubu.
“What did he get in return? The former governor was rubbished by the government when his nomination was rejected by the Senate during confirmation allegedly on spurious claims of not scaling security screening,” the group wrote.”
The movement also listed those who have been humiliated by the current government ot include, Senators Danjuma Goje, Abdulazeez Yari.
“The former Zamfara State Governor was subsequently rubbish by the government when he tried to become the Senate President of the country. He was hounded and cowed to submission by the agents of the government and the state.
“Not done, they added that “another Northerner who has also been humiliated since coming into being of this government is Senator Ali Ndume, who by right and qualification ought to be the Senate Leader but has since been relegated to be the deputy despite having served in that position in the past in the last 9th Assembly.”
They also added that former Governor of Kano State, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso is being harassed on daily basis to give up the mandate that the people of the state have given to his party in the general election with the hope of taking over the state from him.
“Despite appeals from Nigerians to ensure that sanity prevails, the current government since assuming office are still working assiduously to snatch Kano with soul aim of destabilizing the commercial center of the north.
“Their well orchestrated decimation will spell doom for the region if care is not taken, it must however be noted that the current government in the country has continued to show its disdain to the region and its teeming masses. Let us recall the attempt that it made upon resumption of office to invade Niger Republic,” the group said.
It however, warned President Tinubu and Justice Kayode Ariwoola not to allow judiciary to destabilize the region, adding that failure to act will spell doom for the country as they will take law into their hands.
