A VICIOUS COCKTAIL IN KANO

Celebratory gears preceded the January 12 judgment of the Supreme Court which confirmed Abba Kabir Yusuf as the Governor of the Kano State. The All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state which had won the round of litigation at the Court of Appeal had distributed celebration clothes to its members. There were also prayers and fasting as well as curses and cheers.

Before the judgment, the people of Kano State saw it all.

There was a mammoth electoral upset, an unsparing demolition job and unexpected judicial interventions. Everything that could happen to a people happened in Kano between the period of March 18, 2023 and January 12, 2024.

The incumbent Abba Yusuf Kabir had been sacked by the Kano State Election Petition Tribunal which was at pains to stress the insecurity it felt as it worked in one of Nigeria’s most politically volatile states.

On Friday, January 12, the Supreme Court set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which had affirmed the verdict of the Election Petition Tribunal.

Even before the election was held on March 18, Nigeria had long refined its reputation as a country where mountains are molded out of molehills. Repeated elections have remained a riotous struggle in a country where getting the basics right is almost impossible. The entire system seems at once polluted by the presence of perverts and their perversions.

Key institutions of government have been caught up in this malaise. As these institutions have badly struggled, Nigerians have lost hope and touch with reality, as is clearly seen in the lives of some people who call the ancient city of Kano home.

For many years, Kano, one of Nigeria’s most iconic cities, has been a battleground for interests at once parochial and popular. The state has spawned its fair share of leaders in different fields who have attracted local and global attention.

Some of Nigeria’s most iconic and eccentric politicians have come from the state which is recorded as Nigeria’s most populous with all the strategic implications it has for democracy, which is a game of numbers.

During the last election, the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) reinvigorated by the presence of Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, its presidential candidate and former Governor of the State, swept to victory at the presidential polls. It was no fluke. A landslide victory followed at the Governorship polls until the APC approached the Election Petition Tribunal, which rolled back the victory.

In a season in which the Nigerian judiciary is the subject of backbreaking scrutiny amidst the failure of politicians to live above board, and the incompetence of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), it is the court that would once again have the final say on who becomes the governor of Kano State. It is a situation that can only be described as tragic for democracy.

As events unfolded in a state which has quickly become one of Nigeria’s most treacherous political terrains, fingers pointed wildly at Umar Ganduje, the immediate past Governor of the state who now serves as the National chairman of the APC. He was said to be behind the string of judicial defeats suffered by the NNPP.

As the NNPP coasted to victory in the March 18 polls, Ganduje maintained a pregnant silence. Even when he watched the government’s demolition job target structures erected by his administration, he maintained a stony silence, as if he had a couple of decisive cards to play.

There were prayers in the state since the dispute over the Governorship polls went to the Supreme Court.

There were also brickbats as well as incantations and accusations. But now, the APC in Kano must lick its wounds and wait for 2027.

For Plateau State, the Supreme Court gave judgment to Caleb Mutfwang of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). The judgment brought to an end the long-running governorship dispute in the state that had culminated in a dubious Court of Appeal decision. Disputed elections, litigation, celebratory gears, accusations of corruption all bring up a vicious cocktail that feeds the enemies of Nigeria’s democracy. Deep reforms are needed to turn the tide.

At some point, the country would have to brave the odds to do what it must. By then, it must hope it has not run out of options.

Ike Willie-Nwobu

ikewilly9@gmail.com