NNPP Threaten To Report Tribunal Panel Member, Justice Anya to NJC

 The leadership of New Nigeria People's Party (NNPP) has threatened to drag Justice Benson Anya of the Kano State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal to the National Judicial Council (NJC) over what they termed as "indecorous and libelous language" used by him to tarnish the image of its leaders and members.

Justice Anya had subtly described some supporters of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State as bandits and terrorists.

The NNPP in a statement by its National Auditor, Ladipo Johnson, said it was particularly disturbed by portions of the judgement where a member of the panel, Justice Anya, described the party members as “the gang of Red Cap wearers who, like a violent and terrorist cult, chased us out of Kano and put us in the fear of our lives".

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Johnson vowed that the NNPP would "consider all options including petitioning the NJC over the utterances of the Judge and shall appeal the Tribunal's verdict."

He also condemned Justice Anya's remarks where he said that "instead of some Kano politicians to be allowed to use banditry and violence to abort democracy in Kano State, justice will be used to stop them from destroying democracy in Kano and upward."

The NNPP chieftain objected to such language, which, he stated, was unbecoming of a Judge and defender of the law.

"Of course, the indecorous, libelous and outright condemnable comments credited to the panel and especially those portions where Justice Benson Anya went beyond his judicial bounds of immunity and acted as if he is an interested party in the matter by casting aspersions on the leadership and members of NNPP, are spurious, regrettable, uncouth and based on sentiments", he said.

"To any rational observer, it should be glaringly obvious that Justice Anya's lengthy rebuke, insult and insensitive remarks against NNPP individually and collectively were rather unprecedented, and not based on the facts, evidence and law before the Tribunal. One would think that he has taken sides as an interested party and as such has prejudiced the judgement of the court.

"Justice Benson Anya may have been trying to curry the public sympathy by painting the "wearers of the red cap" as "terrorists and bandits," a terrible application of sentiments to validate a historic and epic miscarriage of justice."