- The NNPP supports Nigerians’ protest in London, calling them patriotic citizens expressing outrage over perceived injustice in the Kano governorship election
- They emphasize the importance of recognizing legitimate concerns and the role of protests as part of democracy
According to the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), those who protested at the Nigeria High Commission in London on the nation’s independence day were patriotic Nigerians living abroad who were only expressing their outrage over what they saw as injustice.
Some Nigerians protested in London against the Kano tribunal decision, which was criticized by an organization known as APC Stakeholders.
However, in a statement made available to the press in Abuja by the NNPP’s spokesman, Barrister Ladipo Johnson, the party said the protesters were patriotic Nigerians and that their action was an expression of their outrage over the injustice they saw in the Kano governorship election matters.
Johnson stated that the APC should recognize that protest, even if it is by a single person, is important and should take note of legitimate concerns and messages in such protests 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 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.