*Oposition tasks judiciary on independence
By; JACOB ONJEWU DICKSON
The New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) has said that those who staged a protest at the Nigeria High Commission in London on the nation’s independence day, are patriotic Nigerians resident abroad who only expressed their outrage over what they see as injustice.
Some Nigerians had protested in London on the Kano tribunal judgement, which was criticized by a body known as APC Stakeholders.
However, in a statement by the NNPP spokesman, Barrister Ladipo Johnson,. made available to the press in Abuja on Tuesday, the party said the protesters are patriotic Nigerians and noted that their action is an expression of their outrage over the injustice they noted in the judgement on the Kano governorship election matters.
Johnson stated that the APC should begin to understand that protest, even by one person, is important and should take note of such legitimate concerns and messages in such protest as freedom of speech, expression, and protests are essential parts of democracy.
“As far as we know those protesters are Nigerians resident abroad who merely denounced what they see as an act of injustice as they proclaimed in their placards.
“Obviously, they are not the usual rented crowd like we see by the APC but true patriots who drew our attention and that of the global community to a sense of injustice. It is only reasonable to take into account their messages for redemption”, he stated.
The statement also refuted any claim to fight the government or agencies of government, but that the protesters only made the case that the judiciary needs help in order to be truly independent.
“The truth is that the protest obviously touched the nerves of the APC and we could see that in their negative reactions.
“However, the protest by those patriotic Nigerians has brought to the consciousness of the global community the fact that the Nigerian judiciary now needs help to be truly independent. So contrary to such negative colorations by the APC, the protesters only stressed this point rather than fighting the judiciary or any agencies of government”.
