The New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, has denied the allegation that the party sponsored a protest at the Nigeria High Commission in London on October 1.
Some Nigerians staged a protest to the High Commission office to show their dissatisfaction with the recent ruling of the Kano State Election Tribunal which invalidated the election of Governor Abba Yusuf.
On September 20, the tribunal declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Nasir Gawuna, the immediate past Deputy Governor, winner of the governorship election.
In its reaction to the protest, the National Coalition of All Progressives Congress, APC Stakeholders blamed the ruling NNPP in the state.
Responding, the NNPP said the protesters were only expressing their anger over the judgment, which has nothing to do with the party.
The reaction came from a chieftain of the NNPP, Ladipo Johnson, who stated in a statement on Wednesday that the outrage over the nullification of Governor Yusuf caused the protest in the UK, adding that it’s within the fundamental human rights of Nigerians abroad to show their dissatisfaction over what is happening in the country.
Johnson said: “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.
“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.”
Meanwhile, the NNPC-led government in the state has called for calm among the residents, after filing an appeal at the Court of Appeal to overturn the ruling of the lower court.
