The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Kano state, Hon. Abdullahi Abbas has threatened a lawsuit against the State’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Haruna Isa Dederi.
Dederi had accused APC leaders of influencing the Kano State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal and the Justices of the Court of Appeal in order to remove the State Governor, Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP.
Abbas in a letter dated November 23, gave Dederi 48 hours to withdraw the defamatory statements or risk being dragged before the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee.
Abbas specifically referred to Dederi’s false allegations made on national television, where he claimed that the tribunal’s decision to deliver judgment via zoom was due to interference.
Abbas said not done with the tribunal, the Attorney General also went on to malign justices of the appellate court by saying: “According to information available us there was interference by forces that be. There are people who have no interest in this country and can go to any extent to jeopardize things because of their political interest and that was what played out in the judgment”.
He stated that Dederi later made a voice recording as the Attorney General of Kano State countering the statement issued by the Chief Registrar of the Court of Appeal in respect of the clerical error in the judgment.
“In the said voice note, you made innuendos suggesting that the Justices of the Court of Appeal were indeed compromised.
“From the above statements, it is clear for any discerning mind to infer that you were suggesting influence on the judges by our party leaders, which you know is far from the truth”, the APC chairman said in the letter copied to both President of the Nigerian Bar Association and the Kano state chairman of the association and made available to newsmen in Abuja on Sunday.
Consequently, he said since Dederi’s statements, he has received countless phone calls and text messages from family, friends, colleagues and associates demanding explanation from him as to whether it was indeed true that the APC influenced the judgment of the Court of Appeal and the Tribunal.
“I also received various threats including attempts to attack my house in Kano. Your careless words have created so much tension casting aspersion on my person by demeaning my reputation in the society.
“Consequent upon the above, I therefore demand that you come forward and mention the names of those who had hands in interfering with the judgment of the two courts. This will go a long way in cleansing the society of corruption.
It will also clear my name and be protected against unnecessary attacks your comments have subjected me to. But if you have no proof of the serious allegations you made, I demand that you publicly apologize to me and my party for the embarrassment you caused us.
“As a lawyer, I need not remind you of the provisions of your professional code with respect to courts and judges. Your allegations against the judges and justices are very grievous more so if they turn out to be false.
“I therefore, by this letter, give you an ultimatum of 48 hours to back your allegations against the Judges and Justices that they were influenced to give judgment contrary to the law as you claimed.
“Please note that if you fail to meet with my demands as stated above, I shall not hesitate to file a petition against you at the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee as well as institute an action for defamation against you in court, and this we shall do without further recourse to you.
Recall that the Court of Appeal in Abuja had uphold the Tribunal Judgement by nullifying the election of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of the NNPP. The court declared Nasiru Yusuf Ganuwa of APC as the rightful winner of the gubernatorial poll in the State.
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