As Kwankwaso Exposes Rot in Judiciary

The recent claim by the national leader of the New Nigeria People’s Party, Rabiu Kwankwaso, that he took Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, to the homes of Supreme Court judges in 2019 to induce them must not be ignored if the war against corruption in the judiciary is not a mere lip service, Davidson Iriekpen writes

Four weeks after the former presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, claimed that he took Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, to the homes of Supreme Court judges in 2019, neither the Supreme Court of Nigeria nor the National Judicial Council (NJC) has launched an investigation into the claim.

Kwankwaso made his remarks amid political tension following Governor Yusuf’s defection from the NNPP to the All Progressives Congress (APC)—a move he described as the greatest political betrayal of his life. He said it would have been preferable for Yusuf to join a new political platform rather than defect to what he called political adversaries.

Revisiting the 2019 elections, which Yusuf lost to former Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, Kwankwaso described the process as unjust. That election, in which Yusuf was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, was declared inconclusive after Yusuf led with 1,014,353 votes against 953,522 votes scored by then-Governor Ganduje of the APC, with over 100,000 votes cancelled.

Following a supplementary poll across 28 local government areas, Ganduje was declared the winner. The Supreme Court later dismissed Yusuf’s appeal in January 2020, affirming Ganduje’s victory.

Kwankwaso and Yusuf subsequently defected from the PDP to the NNPP, on whose platform Yusuf won the 2023 Kano governorship election, backed by the Kwankwasiyya political movement. Although Yusuf’s victory was initially overturned by the election tribunal and the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court reinstated him in January 2024, faulting the lower courts and restoring the cancelled votes.

That judgment remains one of the most consequential electoral rulings in Nigeria’s recent democratic history.

Governor Yusuf formally resigned from the NNPP recently, citing internal crises and prolonged leadership disputes within the party – a development that has intensified political tensions in Kano.

While addressing supporters after Yusuf defected to the APC, a betrayed Kwankwaso claimed that during the 2019 Kano governorship election dispute, he took Governor Yusuf to see judges of the apex court after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the election inconclusive.

“He had forgotten that in 2019, I took him to the homes of all the Supreme Court judges in Nigeria to beg them. I and the governor met them in their villages and towns,” he declared.

Though the NNPP leader did not name any of the justices he allegedly visited or provide details of the meetings, neither the Supreme Court nor any of the serving justices has uttered a single word to debunk the grievously odious allegations against the sanctity of the court.

Till date, it is only a retired Justice of the court, Justice Musa Muhammad Dattijo, that firmly denied the claim. He said at no point during his tenure on the Supreme Court did he meet Kwankwaso or Governor Yusuf, either in relation to the election case or any other matter. He challenged Kwankwaso to tell the world when and where he and Yusuf visited him.

In a statement, Justice Dattijo, who retired from the apex court on October 27, 2023, emphasised that he was a serving justice at the time of the alleged visits and never held such a meeting with Kwankwaso or Governor Yusuf.

The retired judge asked the NNPP leader to substantiate his claims with specifics, while cautioning that his response should not be taken as a collective denial on behalf of the judiciary. He warned that sweeping statements risk tarnishing the reputation of judicial officers who may have had no connection to the matter.

Justice Dattijo cautioned politicians against dragging judges into partisan controversies, noting that unverified allegations further deepen public distrust in the judiciary.

Globally, litigants with or without pending cases before the courts are not expected to pay discreet, nocturnal or daytime visits to respected judges on the Bench. Such a visit is considered an ethical taboo.

Another scenario played out recently when social media platforms were abuzz after a delegation of judges of the Federal High Court led by their Chief Judge, Justice John Tsoho, visited the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chief Nyesom Wike.

In the video, the chief judge was openly heard soliciting in a patronising manner for Abuja land favours from the minister. To many, the visit was really repulsive as it has the potential of making the custodians of the country’s temple of justice an object of avoidable scoffing in the public domain.

In 2024, human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), had strongly criticised the gifting of houses to judges by Wike over the construction of 40 houses for judges in Abuja, arguing it was unconstitutional, improper, and creates a conflict of interest. Falana contends that as the FCT minister has many cases before these courts, such “gifts” compromise judicial independence, noting that the judiciary should manage its own budget. 

The judiciary, once revered as the last hope of the common man, is increasingly perceived as a marketplace where justice is auctioned to the highest bidder. Widespread disillusionment has emerged as citizens now viewed courtrooms as arenas where rulings are influenced by bribes rather than evidence.

A few years ago, a senator from Bauchi, Muhammad Bulkachuwa, on the floor of the Senate, openly revealed how he abused his position as the husband of the then President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, to help his colleagues who had election cases at the Court of Appeal. After the initial threats, nothing happened. He got away with the damning allegation.

In the past, judges were not only reclusive but also widely revered as a special breed, carefully selected to discharge critical judicial responsibilities. They were regarded by the public as men and women of unimpeachable character, entrusted with the sacred duty of dispensing justice. Today, however, that reverence has significantly eroded.

The effects of this misconduct are the growing list of vague, incongruous, incoherent and controversial judgments, fuelling loss of confidence in the judiciary. 

While many argue that the decadence currently evident in the judiciary mirrors the rot in the society that produces its judges, others maintain that overwhelming political and social pressures have compromised judicial independence.

This is why the allegation by Kwankwaso is not only grave, but must not be swept under the carpet. The Supreme Court justices who were in service in 2019 should speak up. He should be challenged to provide proof. The NJC and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) should show interest in this disgraceful allegation.

The former Kano governor cannot drag the justices of the Supreme Court into the mud with such a weighty allegation and behave as if nothing happened. He cannot make the court a laughing stock and move on with his business. All the justices in 2019, still serving or retired, should collectively challenge him. If it was a slip of the tongue, he should clarify and publicly apologise. Otherwise, they should sue him for defamation.

There is no doubt that Kwankwaso’s sweeping statements are capable of denigrating the credibility of our apex court’s justices and by extension, the entire judicial system. This is why it should be condemned. Though Nigeria’s grundnorm explicitly guarantees freedom of speech and expression, there is however, a proviso curtailing such right where uttered words risk harming the reputation of others or that of public institutions.