Relocate Kano Appeal Court Judges To Abuja, Nigerian Youths Tell CJN

Nigerian youths across political parties in Nigeria have implored the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and the National Judicial Council (NJC) to relocate the Kano Division of the Court of Appeal entertaining the governorship election case to Abuja.

The youths operating under auspices of Stand Up Nigeria condemned alleged intimidation of members of the Kano state governorship election petitions tribunal. 

They condemned utterances by certain politicians, particularly the one recently made by a political group which warned that the situation in Kano could degenerate into what is happening in Zamfara if allegations that federal elements were seeking to influence the tribunal outcome in favour of the APC are not addressed.

Speaking at a press conference in Abuja yesterday, the national coordinator of the group, Patriot Sunday Attah, said the NJC must be proactive in relocating such panels to Abuja, just as he noted that Kano would not become Zamfara or Borno State.

“Kano state will not become like Zamfara neither will it become another Borno. There will be no war in Kano”, he stated. 

On the safety of justices sitting on election cases across the country, Attah said, “We must understand that our Justices are not spirits and they don’t have bulletproof heads or bodies and at any point that they are threatened, it is the responsibility of the Nigerian government to protect them. 

“If there is a threat to their lives in any state of the Federation, our call to the NJC is to quickly relocate them to a conducive environment where they will dispense justice without fear or favour because it is he who is alive that can deliver judgment.

“Abuja is a safe haven. Nobody can come and misbehave in Abuja. We are telling the NJC that any state that some elements have proven to be toxic, threatening the judges, then the NJC should relocate the judges to Abuja”.