Alhaji Dr Ilyasu Musa Kwankwaso, a former commissioner for rural and community development in Kano State, has urged Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) presidential candidate in the most recent general election, to accept defeat in good faith, adding that neither political outcry nor propaganda serve as evidence to secure victory at any court of law or tribunal.
He continued, “Some politicians believed that funding propaganda and igniting political outcry on radios, televisions, and newspapers could threaten judges to pass erroneous judgments or win a court case or petition before the tribunal.”
Dr. However, Kwankwaso, who made the observation in response to a worldwide press conference addressed by PDP presidential candidate Atiku, said that judges can never be intimidated or perplexed due to a political outcry or level of propaganda being circulated.
Therefore, he said, it is necessary for various Counsels to fight and present compelling evidence before the Judges about why their plea(s) is/are justified, clearing the way for them to win, independent of the volume of propaganda or public or political outcry.
In addition,Dr. Kwankwaso advised Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf, the governor of Kano state, to concentrate on the appeal he had filed against the decision of the petition for a governorship election that resulted in Yusuf’s dismissal and to stop funding pointless demonstrations and propaganda that would damage the reputation of the judiciary and the federal government abroad.
In response to a Dr. Aminu Bello-led demonstration in London, where he stormed the Nigerian Embassy and accused the Justices of bias in the recently rendered judgment against Governor Yusuf, he offered the advice.
He said, “It is saddened and pathetic that Yusuf’s administration can decide to embark on a cheap blackmail in far away London through organised kangaroo protest in this 21st century.”
He added that rather for Governor Yusuf to accept the verdict of tribunal that sacked him in good faith, as an act of Allah and go back to a drawing board and be planning on how he can get a reputable party to contest in 2027, he is busy spending the meager resources of the state on a mission impossible.
“Looking at the so-called protest ,which was stage managed by gathering no fewer than ten people, one will conclude that Governor Yusuf is so desperate and confused looking for power, where there is no power.”
He noted that his administration, to many people, is only marking the time, noting that though he has the “constitutional right to seek for redress in court, but the available evidence the tribunal based its judgment on is as clear as the northern star.