Uba Sani: Politicising Every Judicial Decision Is Not Healthy for Democracy

Governor Uba Sani, defending judicial independence, urges politicians and citizens to avoid politicising court rulings and maintain faith in democracy.

The governor of Kaduna State, Senator Uba Sani, has cautioned against politicising judicial decisions, insisting that confidence in the courts is essential for the survival of democracy.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with ARISE NEWS on Tuesday, the governor, reacting to concerns over the Federal High Court ruling affecting the registration of the NDC, argued that politicians should not praise the judiciary when judgments favour them and condemn it when decisions go against their interests.

“For some of us that believe in democracy, rule of law, judiciary, we believe we have to be very careful. Politicizing every judicial issue is not healthy for us,” he stated.

Adding, he said: “Because many actors that are involved, they were also beneficiaries of some judicial decisions in this country. Whether the leader of NDC himself—I mean the presidential candidate, Peter Obi—remember he was also someone that benefited from a very strong judicial pronouncement when he was governor.

“When it favors politicians, they feel the judiciary is the best place to go. When it goes against them, they feel the judiciary is the worst place to go.”

Governor Sani stressed that while no judicial system is flawless, Nigerians must continue to trust democratic institutions and the rule of law. He maintained that faith in the courts is a hallmark of true democrats.

“You have to understand, if you’re a democrat, believe in the system. Believe in our judiciary. I have no doubt in my mind. Our judiciary is not perfect. Neither is it perfect anywhere in the world. But in any case, can we have faith in the system?”, he quizzed.

Responding to allegations that the ruling party was behind the challenges facing opposition groups, the APC governor dismissed the claims and challenged critics to provide evidence linking the APC or the Tinubu administration to the disputes.

“What is the evidence that the ruling party is involved in what is happening to them? If you ask me, sincerely speaking, it’s simply because they are only jumping from one party to another looking for just a platform to contest the election. They are not organised,” he said.

He further said the collapse of opposition alliances was largely driven by disagreements over presidential ambitions and ticket arrangements, stressing that parties formed solely as electoral platforms rather than around shared ideology were unlikely to remain united for long.

“What is more important for the opposition political parties is for them to organize themselves first and foremost. In the last even two months, the level of accusation between the ADC and the NNC… you need to take note of that. It’s even more than what is happening between the APC and those political parties,” he noted.

Turning to the 2027 election, Governor Sani expressed confidence that President Bola Tinubu would improve on his 2023 performance in the North, citing infrastructure projects, agricultural interventions and other federal investments in the region.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu today, he has done more than any leader for Northern Nigeria. I can tell you categorically, no president has done to the North in terms of development as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has done in the last three years. And I’m speaking on the basis of data and statistics. I’m the Governor of Kaduna State and I can tell you—Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu will get more votes in 2027 than what he got in 2023,” he assured.

Commenting on the World Bank’s report that more than 60 per cent of Nigerians live in poverty, the Kaduna state governor disputed the figures as they relate to Kaduna State, citing improvements in education, financial inclusion and access to government support programmes under his administration.

“I have to disagree with your data here. Today, I can tell you, Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, if you go there, in 2023, Kaduna State had about 550,000 out-of-school children. And by the National Bureau of Statistics, as of today, the number of out-of-school children in Kaduna is 187,000. Kaduna State is used as an example for all the states in Nigeria, not even northern Nigeria, all the 36 states in Nigeria, to copy our household mapping for out-of-school children. It’s our template that’s going to be used for every single state.

“When I became the governor of Kaduna State, the first executive order we signed was on financial inclusion. And in the last two years, or three years, we have taken back about 2.6 million people back into the financial services sector. We opened accounts for 2.6 million vulnerable, under-served, and poor people in Kaduna State. That is the data as of today.

“Kaduna State has accessed most of the federal government interventions by Mr. President that have to do with SMEs and households more than any state—maybe probably except Lagos. You know why? Because we have attacked the issue of financial exclusion. 2.6 million have been returned back to the financial services sector because I came with the statistics.

“Go to the Development Finance Department of the Central Bank, they have the statistics. They will tell you: Kaduna State now has the least number of people that are financially excluded. Not only in Northern Nigeria, we’re even better. When you look at the population and the ratio of out-of-school children by the population, Kaduna State is better than more than 60% of the states in Southern Nigeria,” he insisted.

On the debate over state policing, Sani described the creation of state police as the most practical solution to Nigeria’s security challenges, citing inadequate security personnel, vast ungoverned spaces and the need for officers with local knowledge of their communities.

“State police in Nigeria, it’s very important, it’s very critical. Because the only solution is the creation of state police, and I will tell you the reason. Why am I supporting state police? It’s for two or three reasons.

“Number one: We are lacking boots on the ground. And that is the reason why today in Nigeria we have a lot of ungoverned spaces. The issue of security has to do with intelligence sharing and gathering, and you have to know the terrain. So, that is the reason why,” he explained.

He also argued that safeguards in the proposed framework would prevent governors from abusing the system.

“But I can understand a lot of people are skeptical about state police, believing that state governors will abuse it. I’ve seen all the safeguards, and they are okay,” he said.