Over 500 private lawyers have expressed their interest in representing Nasir Gawuna, the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate in Kano State, at the Supreme Court.
This surge in interest follows Governor Abba Yusuf and his New Nigerian People’s Party’s vow to pursue legal recourse at the Supreme Court following Gawuna’s confirmation as the winner of the March 18 governorship election in the state.
During a press conference in Abuja, the Guardians of Democracy and Rule of Law, comprising these lawyers, emphasized their commitment to mobilizing a substantial legal force. They aim to safeguard the country’s democracy from alleged election manipulators and those attempting to intimidate the judiciary.
Joseph Onwudiwe, a lawyer and spokesperson for the group, assured journalists of their unwavering dedication to vigorously defending Gawuna’s electoral mandate at the highest court in the land.
Onwudiwe said, “Nigerians have observed with keen interest the situation unfolding in Kano State regarding the March 18 governorship election. As a group saddled with the onerous responsibility of safeguarding our democratic ethos and values, we are no longer comfortable with the unwarranted attacks on the judiciary and moves to blackmail the court into giving backing to wanton electoral malfeasance and vote heists.
“We will no longer fold our arms as lawyers and watch the judiciary be continuously harangued, and the temple of justice desecrated by a group of people who failed to perfect an electoral heist and inflate their votes by over 165,000 in a desperate bid to win the March 18 2023 Kano State governorship election at all cost.
“It is on the above premise that we are mobilising over 500 of our members to defend Gawuna at the Supreme Court. We also salute the courage and sound reasoning that resonated in the judgments of the tribunal and the Court of Appeal.
“We are not surprised that the sacked governor of Kano State and his people have become insistent in selling propaganda in the name of a contradiction in the CTC of the Appeal Court judgment.”
