In the wake of the controversy surrounding the conduct of local government elections in Kano State, a civil society group, Citizens for Development and Education (CDE), has alleged an orchestrated plan to use the judiciary to truncate the democratic process in the state.
The group in collaboration with the Organisation for Community and Civic Engagement (OCCEN) and Citizens Voice Against Corruption, specifically accused Justice Simon Amobeda of the Federal High Court, Kano division of disrespecting the culture and tradition of the people.
Addressing a press conference Thursday evening, the convener of the group, Ambassador Ibrahim Waiya, said it is regrettable that the Judge of the High Court is being unduly used against the will of the people of Kano.
Waiya kicked against the judgement of the court that restrained the state’s independent electoral commission from conducting local government elections, saying the decision was against the Supreme Court’s ruling that all states must conduct elections before the end of October.
He said some elements in Kano are taking advantage of the situation to truncate democracy and are using Justice Simon Amobeda for their own purposes.
The group added that it’s unfortunate that the Judge based in Kano is frustrating the government’s efforts to conduct elections in the name of opposition, added that the government, which came into power in 2023, is battling with the judiciary, and development plans in the state are being frustrated.
The group cautioned the judge that he would be held responsible for any breach of peace in Kano should the event election be held as scheduled.
“We will not allow one single person to jeopardise the peace of 20 million people of Kano. We are not comfortable with what Justice Simon Amobeda is doing. Is there no competent Judge to handle cases like this? We are not personally against Justice Amobeda but we are against his attitudes. We are ready to confront him.”
The group said that if the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court refuses to transfer Simon Amobeda from Kano, it is high time that President Bola Tinubu knows that he has ambitions in 2027 and allows the rule of law to prevail in Kano. If he refuses, he should forget his ambition.