Kaduna State governor, Uba Sani, has defended Nigeria’s judiciary, arguing that many politicians who criticised the courts were themselves beneficiaries of judicial decisions.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE News Prime Time show on Tuesday night, the governor said politicians often praise the judiciary when court rulings favour them but condemn it when judgments go against them.
“A lot of people who certainly don’t have any faith in democracy are people who don’t believe in our judicial system. For me, honestly speaking, I have never doubted our judicial system,” Sani said.
He added, “Only recently, there was a judicial pronouncement against another party, and another court overturned that judgement. So when it favours politicians, they feel the judiciary is the best place to go. When it goes against them, they feel the judiciary is the worst place to go.”
The governor said his confidence in the judiciary was shaped by his experiences during Nigeria’s struggle for democratic rule.
According to him, those criticising the courts today often lacked an understanding of the sacrifices made by pro-democracy campaigners to expand Nigeria’s political space.
“We fought for this democracy,” he said. “If there’s any human being who fought for democracy, rule of law and justice in Nigeria, you cannot deny the fact that it was Chief Gani Fawehinmi of blessed memory.”
Sani recalled that after the transition programme initiated by former military Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd), only three political parties were initially registered, while others, including the National Conscience Party (NCP), the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), and the Movement for Democracy and Justice (MDJ), were denied registration.
He said he was a member of the NCP at the time and that many party members were frustrated by the decision.
“We had a very serious meeting, and all of us told Chief Gani Fawehinmi, our leader, that we don’t believe in democracy. Many people were angry, but what did our leader say? He told us we must have faith in the judiciary, in the rule of law and in democracy,” Sani recounted.
Rather than abandoning the democratic process, Sani said the parties challenged the decision in court.
“We headed to court. It took us over two years to get judgement at the Court of Appeal,” he said, noting that the ruling was delivered by Justice Dahiru Mustapha in 2002.
He explained that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) appealed the judgement to the Supreme Court but lost again in January 2003.
“We got the judgement against INEC in January 2003. That was what opened the political space in Nigeria,” he said.
Uba Sani argued that the landmark ruling paved the way for the emergence of more political parties in the country.
“All these things—talking about the Labour Party, the ADC themselves—people do not know. Some people fought for this. They forgot about it,” he said.
While acknowledging that Nigeria’s judiciary was not without flaws, the governor maintained that it remains the appropriate institution for resolving political disputes.
“Our judiciary is not perfect. Let me say this—it is not perfect. Neither is it perfect anywhere in the world. But in any case, we have faith in the system,” Uba Sani added.
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