How Fawehinmi’s court battle helped expand Nigeria’s political space – Uba Sani

By Lateef Ibrahim

Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani has credited the late human rights lawyer and pro-democracy activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, with helping to widen Nigeria’s political space through a landmark legal battle that paved the way for the emergence of more political parties.

Sani said Fawehinmi’s decision to challenge restrictive conditions imposed on political associations seeking registration as political parties demonstrated how the courts could be used to defend democracy rather than abandon it when democratic institutions appeared to be failing.

The governor spoke du the weekend in Kaduna at the public presentation of a book, Gani Fawehinmi and Uba Sani: A Tale of Mentor and Mentee, authored by Basirat Fawehinmi-Biobaku.

Recalling his experience as an activist under Fawehinmi’s leadership, Sani said many pro-democracy campaigners had become frustrated by the political situation at the time and were beginning to lose confidence in the democratic process.

According to him, Fawehinmi rejected calls for despair and instead urged activists to rely on the judiciary, the rule of law and democratic institutions to protect democracy.

“He told us to have faith in the judiciary, faith in the rule of law and faith in democracy itself. Rather than abandon the democratic process, we would use the democratic process to defend democracy,” Sani recalled.

The governor said Fawehinmi, alongside the late former Kaduna State governor, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, pursued the matter through the courts for more than two years.

He recalled that the Court of Appeal eventually ruled in their favour in 2002, while the Supreme Court upheld the decision in January 2003 after the electoral commission appealed.

Sani described the judgment as a significant moment in Nigeria’s democratic development because it opened the political space and enabled the registration and emergence of more political parties.

He urged Nigerians who currently exercise the right to associate with political parties of their choice to remember the activists whose struggles helped secure that freedom.

“Democracy has a history, and every freedom has a cost,” he said.

Beyond political pluralism, Sani portrayed Fawehinmi as a nationalist who was deeply concerned about education, human development and equality across Nigeria.

He recalled his role as Northern Coordinator of the Gani Fawehinmi Scholarship Foundation and said he had persuaded the late activist to establish a major scholarship programme for brilliant but indigent university students in Northern Nigeria.

According to the governor, more than 1,000 students benefited from the programme, with many later becoming doctors, lawyers, academics, engineers and other professionals.

Sani said Fawehinmi had warned northern leaders 26 years ago that failure to tackle educational backwardness could produce serious consequences for the region.

He argued that the warning remained relevant, maintaining that many of the challenges facing Northern Nigeria today could be linked, directly or indirectly, to inadequate investment in human capital.

The governor described Fawehinmi as one of the most courageous Nigerians of his generation, saying he placed principle above personal comfort and used the law to challenge arbitrary power and defend ordinary citizens.

He also urged activists, politicians and academics to periodically honour Nigerians who fought for democracy and human rights, arguing that younger generations need to understand the struggles that produced the democratic freedoms they now enjoy.

Sani congratulated the author for documenting his relationship with Fawehinmi, describing the book as more than a personal account of mentorship.

According to him, the story reflects broader themes of democratic struggle, social justice, education, leadership and the responsibility of one generation to prepare another for national service.