Some legal practitioners, under the auspices of Judiciary Watchdogs, have called on the National Judicial Commission (NJC) to investigate the circumstances surrounding the conflicting Appeal Court ruling on the Kano State governorship election.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday, the spokesperson of the group, Emmanuel Agada, said the judiciary has become an object of ridicule and a tool in the hands of politicians.

Recall that the court had sacked Governor Abba Yusuf and declared the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Nasiru Gawuna, as the winner of the poll.

But a Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgment emerged last Wednesday affirming Yusuf as the winner of the election.

Agada lamented that some persons were desperate to remove Yusuf, even at the expense of the will and aspiration of an overwhelming majority of Kano citizens.

He, however, urged the Supreme Court to come to the rescue of the legal profession in Nigeria by thoroughly dealing with all the appeals arising from the 2023 electoral contest, particularly that of Kano and Plateau states.

The statement added: “The greatest of all the scandals that trailed the ruling in the Kano State guber appeal was the conflicting conclusions that were contained in the 72-page judgment of the Court of Appeal panel that sat over the case. While we have already written a letter to the Nigerian Judicial Commission (NJC) to investigate the circumstances surrounding the conflicting conclusions, we wish to also use this platform to express our displeasure as lawyers on the new low such actions have dragged the bench.

“As young lawyers, we look to the future. Our struggle is for the older folks to bequeath to us a legal profession that still commands the respect and reverence of the world, a judiciary that dispenses justice without fear or favour. It is on the above basis that we have risen to raise this alarm that if the profession continues on this path, it will soon lose its essence. The future will be bleak and the world might soon pick stones against all of us.

“It is our hope and prayers that the apex court comes to the rescue of the legal profession in Nigeria by thoroughly dealing with all the appeals arising from the 2023

electoral contest, particularly that of Kano and Plateau states so that justice will not only be seen to have been done but manifestly done.”