Drama In The Judiciary: Ex-Supreme Court Justice RespondsTo Kwankwaso, Demands Proof

Retired Supreme Court Justice Hon. Musa Muhammad Dattijo has issued a firm clarification in response to claims by former Kano State Governor and NNPP national leader, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, that he visited the homes of Supreme Court justices to intervene in Abba Yusuf’s election dispute.

Justice Dattijo emphasized that he was speaking solely for himself and insisted that at no point did he meet with Kwankwaso or Governor Yusuf, either regarding the election or any other matter, during his tenure on the apex court.

The retired justice, who left the Supreme Court on October 27, 2023, released the statement to journalists on Thursday.

“I speak only for myself,” Justice Dattijo said, stressing that he never held such meetings with Kwankwaso or Yusuf while serving on the Supreme Court.

He added that if Kwankwaso continues to assert his claim, he should provide concrete details, including the date, location, attendees, and the names of the justices allegedly involved.

According to Dattijo, broad claims without specifics risk unfairly harming the reputations of judicial officers who may have had no involvement at all.

He cautioned politicians against dragging members of the judiciary into partisan disputes, noting that unverified narratives—whether true or false—fuel public cynicism toward the courts.

While acknowledging that public perception of Nigeria’s judiciary has declined over the years, he recalled his valedictory speech, in which he described public attitudes toward the courts as “witheringly scornful and monstrously critical.”

He stressed that judicial accountability must be pursued through evidence and due process, not political generalizations.

“My intervention is not intended to defend or indict anyone else,” he said. “It is simply to clarify that I was not part of any such engagement.”

Justice Dattijo cited the 1999 Constitution, noting that while freedom of expression is guaranteed, it carries limits, particularly when statements threaten reputations or undermine public institutions.

He also framed his response within his faith, referencing Qur’an Chapter 4 (An-Nisa), Verse 135, which instructs believers to uphold justice, even against themselves or those close to them.

The former justice warned that societies unravel when wrongdoing is ignored, tolerated, legitimized, and eventually celebrated, while those who resist it are punished. Quoting organizational psychologist Adam Grant, he added that integrity requires loyalty to principles rather than personalities, and that judicial reform must be rooted in honesty, restraint, and collective responsibility.

This clarification follows recent statements by Kwankwaso, who alleged that after the 2019 Kano governorship election was declared inconclusive, he personally took Abba Yusuf to the homes of all Supreme Court justices to seek intervention.

In a widely circulated video, Kwankwaso described the episode as an unprecedented injustice and claimed desperate efforts were made to salvage Yusuf’s mandate.

The 2019 Kano governorship election was declared inconclusive after the margin between the leading candidates fell below the number of cancelled votes. Following a supplementary poll, APC’s Abdullahi Ganduje was declared winner—a decision later upheld by the Supreme Court in January 2020.

In 2023, Yusuf returned to power on the NNPP platform. Although his victory was initially overturned by the election tribunal and the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court in January 2024 reinstated him, overturning the lower court rulings and restoring the cancelled votes.