The Department of State Services (DSS) has dismissed claims that its operatives had arrested one of the tribunal judges who ruled on the 2023 Kano State gubernatorial election.
This is following allegations by the Chief Press Secretary of the Kano State Governor, Sanusi Bature, who claimed that the Kano State government believes that the judges that handled the judgment of the Kano State Gubernatorial Election Petition Tribunal were intimidated and arrested by the security agencies.
Recall that the tribunal on Wednesday nullified Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf’s victory and declared the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nasiru Gawuna, winner of the March 18 governorship election.
While speaking to PRNigeria on the phone, the spokesperson of DSS, Dr. Peter Afunanya, denied the claim by the Kano Governor’s spokesperson.
Afunanya said: “This is a very ridiculous statement. Arresting judges for what reason? It is not true, please.”
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 judgment 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 many things happened behind the scenes, 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.
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