By Malata Yusuf, Albert Manasseh & Hassan Emmanuel
Towards to 2019 elections, we watched with keen interest how Governor Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya wooed the people of Gombe South with promises of righting many wrongs done to the region since the inception of Gombe South. He emphasized the injustice meted on the region because of the fact that it is a region made up of Christians who are the majority by far, and who are mostly ethnic nationalities considered to be minorities and ‘second class citizens’ within the northern part of Nigeria.
However, we have watched again, this time with utter amazement, how a man who identified the challenges of the region and made a serious case for its human and infrastructural underdevelopment before elections, has now recorded the worst injustice to the region so far.
Of note and the most worrisome is the travels of a very competent justice, Justice Beatrice Iliya who remains the most senior Judge in Gombe State today.
The present government in Gombe State had appointed Justice Beatrice Lazarus Iliya as the Acting Chief Judge of the state before resorting to the infamous game of appointing her junior as an Acting Judge after her acting period elapsed. This new game, we understand, is part of an orchestrated plan to achieve the set goal of sidelining the most senior judge in the state, Justice Beatrice Lazarus Iliya and replacing her with another.
We also understand that there are issues of gender bias against Justice Beatrice Lazarus Iliya with rumours that there are those who have sworn that a female judge cannot be made the Chief Justice of the state because it is against their faith.
Based on the foregoing, we seek to make the following statements:
- The government of Governor Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya has so far proven from its appointments and the recent drama in the State Judiciary to be the worst in terms of injustice against Gombe South.
- We condemn the infamous acts of the state government where only the names of Justice Beatrice Lazarus Iliya’s juniors were sent to the National Judicial Council (NJC) in breach of the provisions of the law.
- We state, unequivocally, that, by the aforementioned, Governor Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya is out to further destroy the region and subjugate its people to an unprecedented and uncelebrated servitude under the most favoured regions of the state.
- We call on the state governor to correct this breach or risk falling out of favour in Gombe South.
We remain resolute in bringing peace, unity, equity and development to Gombe State.
Malata Yusuf is the Women Leader of Tangale Community Development Association, Lagos Branch; Albert Manasseh is the PRO, Tangale Community Development Association, Plateau State Branch; Hassan Emmanuel is the Vice Chairman, Tangale Community Development Association, Jigawa State Branch.
