Objection My Lord, We’re Neither Terrorists Nor Bandits, NNPP Replies Kano Tribunal Judge

The New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) on Sunday threatened to drag Justice Benson Anya of the Kano State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal to the National Judicial Council (NJC) over his “indecorous and libelous language” used in describing the party’s members as bandits.

But the NNPP in a statement by its National Auditor, Ladipo Johnson, said it was particularly miffed by the portions of the publication where a member of the panel, Justice Anya, described the party members as “the gang of Red Cap wearers who, like a violent and terrorist cult, chased us out of Kano and put us in the fear of our lives”.

Johnson reiterated that the NNPP would “consider all options including petitioning the NJC over the utterances of the Judge and shall appeal the Tribunal’s verdict” over the bandits’ label.

The party was particularly miffed by the portions of the publication where a member of the panel, Justice Benson Anya, condemned its members, who he referred to as “the gang of Red Cap wearers who, like a violent and terrorist cult, chased us out of Kano and put us in the fear of our lives”.

Johnson also condemned Justice Benson Anya’s remarks that “instead of some Kano politicians to be allowed to use banditry and violence to abort democracy in Kano State, justice will be used to stop them from destroying democracy in Kano and upward.”

The NNPP chieftain objected to such language, which, he stated, was unbecoming of a Judge and defender of the law.

He said, “Of course, the indecorous, libelous and outright condemnable comments credited to the panel and especially those portions where Justice Benson Anya went beyond his judicial bounds of immunity and acted as if he is an interested party in the matter by casting aspersions on the leadership and members of NNPP, are spurious, regrettable, uncouth and based on sentiments.

“To any rational observer, it should be glaringly obvious that Justice Anya’s lengthy rebuke, insult and insensitive remarks against NNPP individually and collectively were rather unprecedented, and not based on the facts, evidence and law before the Tribunal. One would think that he has taken  sides as an interested party and as such has  prejudiced the judgement of the court.

“Justice Benson Anya may have been trying to curry the public sympathy by painting the “wearers of the red cap” as “terrorists and bandits,” a terrible application of sentiments to validate a historic and epic miscarriage of justice.”

He stated that apparently, this Judge may have been petitioned against in Abia state and wondered why he would have been nominated to the panel in the first place.

Johnson reiterated that the NNPP would consider all options, “including petitioning the NJC over the utterances of the Judge, and shall appeal the tribunal’s verdict which removed Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf as Kano governor, stressing that the party was confident that justice will be  delivered at the Appellate Court in due course to reinforce the faith of the people in the  judiciary and democracy.”

“It now seems apparently clear that justice was not served by the Election Petition Panel which had all its sittings in Kano  without any report of violence or disruptions, and then all of a sudden, decided to give their judgement via Zoom from some obscure place that remains a mystery to us!”, the NNPP chief said in anger over the bandits tag.

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