KADUNA, Nigeria — Gloria Mabeiam Michael Ballason, a justice evangelist and international attorney, on Tuesday called on Gov. Uba Sani to free a Peoples Democratic Party candidate and her campaign director, saying their detention amounts to political persecution.
“Let’s get right down to it: Free Hon. Esther Asheivelli Dawaki and her campaign lead, Hon. Shehu Aliyu Fatange,” Ballason wrote in a public LinkedIn post, accusing the governor’s administration of “foisting a one-party state on the people.”
Ballason accused state authorities of using “the security and judicial system to entrench totalitarianism,” and warned that continued suppression would only intensify public anger. “If you do so, you will begin the process of redeeming yourself but if you don’t, the voice of the people will break into a roar,” she wrote.
The appeal comes after reports that Esther Ashivelli Dawaki and Shehu Aliyu Fatange were arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on allegations that include handling N26 million in cash in connection with vote-buying and related offenses, according to news reports.
Their detention follows a hotly contested by-election in the Chikun/Kajuru Federal Constituency that the All Progressives Congress presumed to have won in August, a result that heightened tensions between the APC and the PDP in Kaduna.
Editor: Gabriel Ani
