Two hundred Northern lawyers have urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Supreme Court not to allow Nigeria to become a one-party state.
The lawyers under the banner of ‘Abba Kabir Yusuf Volunteer Lawyers Forum for the 19 Northern States and Abuja’, lamented that a one-party state is an undemocratic practice.
Speaking during a press briefing at the Arewa House in Kaduna on Sunday, the spokesperson of the group, Yusuf Ibrahim said they were worried by what they described as the contradictory verdict of the Appeal Court in its judgment of the Kano State 2023 gubernatorial election.
They warned the judiciary that the rule of law should be obeyed to ensure that the votes of every Nigerian count during elections.
The lawyers expressed concern over the independence of the judiciary in the country, adding that the Appeal Court judgment in favour of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano was a clear miscarriage of justice.
According to them, “We call and appeal to our President, H.E Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the judiciary to save our democracy and ensure the votes of the electorate as enshrined in the 1999 constitution of Nigeria.
“This is not unconnected to the fact that the good people of Kano have voted massively in favour of H.E Abba Kabir Yusuf so as to allow him carry on the good work his predecessors have started in Kano State.
“It is pertinent to state here that the Electoral Act needs a holistic reworking in order to address these anomalies of our judicial system and democracy, if we must save it. Pre-election matters must be seen to be addressed as no longer litigable issues after the winner of an election has been declared.
We passionately and respectfully call on the Supreme Court to resist any form of external interference either from the executive or any other body to protect the image of the judiciary and uphold the rule of law.”
