22nd September, 2023
Nigeria’s secret police, the Department of State Services, DSS, has described the claim that its operatives arrested judges of the Kano governorship election petition tribunal as ‘very ridiculous’.
The DSS said this while denying claims by the Kano State Government that one of the judges who delivered the ruling nullifying the victory of Governor Abba Yusuf in the March 18, 2023 election was arrested.
The Chief Press Secretary to the sacked Kano Governor, Sanusi Bature had made the allegation after the sack of Yusuf.
Bature claimed that members of the Kano State Gubernatorial Election Petition Tribunal were intimidated by the security agencies to deliver a verdict that was not favourable to his boss.
Speaking in an interview on Channels Television, Sanusi Bature said, “The DSS arrested one of the judges that delivered the judgement in Kano and I believe that is intimidation.
“Even this virtual judgement they delivered, we do not know where they delivered it from. Probably, they delivered the judgement under duress or whatever, I am not sure. We do not know the location from which they delivered the judgement and we do not know their condition because we could only see them on the screen.
“A lot of things happened behind the scenes and to our surprise, the person who was declared winner was not even joined in the case. Gawuna contested in the election, accepted defeat, and congratulated Abba Kabir and said that he is not going to court.”
However, the spokesperson of DSS Dr. Peter Afunanya told PRNigeria that there was no truth in the allegation.
“This is a very ridiculous statement. Arresting judges for what reason? It is not true, please,” Afunaya was quoted by PR Nigeria as saying.