Protesters In London Patriotic Nigerians – NNPP Spokesperson
The New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) has described as patriotic Nigerians those who staged a protest at the Nigeria High Commission in London on the nation’s independence day.
The party said the Nigerians in diaspora only expressed their outrage over what they see as injustice done to the people by the Kano tribunal judgment.
The NNPP was reacting to criticisms of the protesters’ action by a body that called itself the All Progressives Congress (APC) Stakeholders.
A statement issued in Abuja by the NNPP spokesperson, Barrister Ladipo Johnson, applauded the protesters as patriotic Nigerians, whose action was an expression of their outrage over the observable injustice in the judgment by the Kano governorship tribunal.
According to Johnson, 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 further stated.
Also refuting any claim to fight the government or agencies of government, the statement said the protesters only made the case that the judiciary needs help in order to be truly independent, adding; “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”, the statement said.
Some Nigerians had protested in London over the ruling by the Kano tribunal sacking Governor Abba Yusuf and awarding victory to Nasiru Gawuna, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the March 18 gubernatorial poll.