Unedited Press Release
August 31, 2020
Press Release
Kogi: S/Court Ruling Is Endorsement of Electoral Violence and Power Grabbing – Kogi Professionals
The Kogi Professionals (TKP), a coalition of professionals and good governance groups in Kogi state, is alarmed by the decision of the Supreme Court to uphold the injustice meted out on the people of Kogi state as well as the assault on the nation’s constitutional democracy in the heavily manipulated 2019 Kogi state governorship election.
The unfortunate ruling of the Supreme Court is a direct endorsement of the deployment of violence, bloodletting, killing, ballot box snatching and alteration of figures to grab power in our country.
If after the documented violent invasion and disruption of election in polling units, the shooting and gruesome killings of voters, the use of police helicopter to fire at innocent Nigerians who were called out by government to perform their civic responsibilities at the elections, and the horrific burning alive of an innocent woman, among other atrocities, our courts still allocated conquest to power grabbers, then we are in a hopeless situation.
The world cried out in horror as killer thugs brutalized voters and carted away ballot boxes to government facilities where results were forcefully doctored, yet victory has been awarded to power grabbers.
If the courts cannot play their role of righting of wrongs; if they can no longer steady the ship of state and the course of democracy; if the courts can no longer hear the cries of the common man and his hope in the face of oppression, then we are in indeed in a dire strait.
The sadness and gloom that pervade our nation since the declaration by the Supreme Court, confirms that the ruling is capable of eroding the trust Nigerians have in our institutions, particularly the courts, at this critical time in our national history.
Our fear is that this judgment will haunt our democratic order for a very long time as it has the capacity of emboldening political savages in their culture of violence and voter suppression in elections.
Though as law-abiding citizens, we urge Nigerians to accept the verdict of the Supreme Court, as the highest court in the land, we note that God is higher than all and the cries of the oppressed, the murdered and the deprived still go out to him.
For those who gloat over this judicial failure, they must bear in mind that whatever triumph is won upon the blood of the innocent can only be temporal and cannot confer the crown of legitimacy.
Justice, whose temple has been desecrated, may appear to have been conquered by injustice but such presumed victory can only be temporal.
The Kogi Professionals calls on Nigerians and particularly the people of Kogi state not to be defeated by today’s unfortunate judgment. We must not lose hope in the future of our nation, irrespective of the current manifestations of injustices.
We must continue in standing for the truth and using all means provided within the law in fighting for justice. No matter how long lies and injustice seem to prevail, truth and justice will always triumph at the end.
Signed:
Dr. Aminu Jimoh
National Convener