Kano Tribunal: DSS Refutes Claims on Judge Arrest

The Department of State Services (DSS) has denied reports that one of the judges who presided over the Kano State gubernatorial election in 2023 was detained by DSS agents.

This is in response to a claim made by the Kano State government that the judges who handled the ruling of the Kano State Gubernatorial Election Petition Tribunal were intimidated and detained by the security agencies, according to GISTLOVER. The governor of Kano State’s chief press secretary, Sanusi Bature, made this claim.

Recall that on Wednesday, the tribunal declared Nasiru Gawuna, the APC’s candidate for governor, the winner of the March 18 governorship election, invalidating the victory of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf.

The Kano Governor’s spokesperson’s assertion was refuted by the DSS spokesperson, Dr. Peter Afunanya, in a telephone interview with PRNigeria.

Afunanya said: “This is a very ridiculous statement. Arresting judges for what reason? It is not true, please.”

Speaking in an interview on Channels Television, Sanusi Bature said, “there is no reason why the DSS can arrest a judge without any suspicion. 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.”

He stated that a lot of things happened behind the scene, adding that the person who was declared winner was not even joined in the case.

“Gawuna contested in the election, accepted defeat, and he congratulated Abba Kabir and said that he is not going to court,” Bature said.