- Yusuf’s supporters want to eliminate us -Kano APC chieftains allege
- NNPP has no intention to cause problems – Ladipo Johnson
BY BENEDICT NWACHUKWU, ABUJA
There is tension in Kano State as chieftains of the All Progressives Congress and those of the New Nigeria Peoples Party have fixed street demonstrations for Saturday.
This is as a result of the judgement of the Court of Appeal which sacked Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf and declared candidate of the APC, Nasir Yusuf Gawuna, as winner of the March 18 election in the state.
Addressing newsmen on Thursday at the APC National Secretariat in Abuja, the Director-General of the Gawuna/Garo Campaign Organisation, Rabiu Suleiman Bichi, who led other stakeholders consisting of members of the Kano State House of Assembly, former commissioners, ex-special advisers and other stalwarts of the APC in the state, he said while the NNPP would be staging a mass protest in Kano on Saturday, the APC would organise a mass rally same day.
Recall that the Appeal Court on Wednesday insisted that Governor Yusuf was sacked, following controversies that trailed the release of the Certified True Copy of the judgement which indicated in one part that Yusuf won the appeal.
Bichi said the information available to them showed that NNPP stakeholders fixed a mass protest for Saturday after meeting with their leader, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.
He however, insisted that APC stakeholders would also hold a mass rally the same day in Kano, in support of the party’s candidate.
When asked to explain why the APC would hold a mass rally on Saturday when it was already established that the NNPP would be staging a mass protest in Kano, Bichi said, “We are also going for a mass rally on Saturday as part of democracy.”
Answering a question on the likely outbreak of violence, he said, “We are law-abiding citizens and will not do anything to disturb peace, but we will not hesitate to protect our lives and belongings.
“Things appear to be getting worse since the embattled leader of the NNPP, Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, came back to Kano on Sunday, where he held a meeting of the party’s stakeholders.
“We have it from reliable sources that they are planning a mass protest on Saturday. It is on this note that we call on the Kano State police command and other security agencies to be alive to their responsibilities and take appreciative measures to avoid loss of life and property.
“However, the people of Kano have been living in perpetual fear of intimidation and threat to life and property, since the assumption of office, starting with the orgy of violence by elements of the NNPP, targeted at APC.”
Reacting, the spokesperson for the NNPP, Ladipo Johnson, expressed surprise at the allegation of violence targeted at APC members
“The people voted and our candidate won. We really don’t have any problem with them. If the NNPP is having a rally as they claimed, be rest assured it will be a peaceful one. But if the APC is saying they want to have a rally too, it is a ploy to give the police an excuse to say nobody should go on the street to avoid clashes.
“But I can assure you that the NNPP has no intention to cause any problem. We believe the Supreme Court will do what is right to show that what happened at the Court of Appeal was a travesty of justice,” he stated.
Some supporters of the NNPP on Wednesday in Kano protested against the Appeal Court judgement that sacked Governor Abba Yusuf
A three-member panel of the Court of Appeal led by Moore Adumein, in a unanimous judgement on Friday, declared Nasiru Gawuna, of the APC the winner of the 18 March governorship election in the state.
Displeased with the court judgement, the protesters rose from a prayer session at an open field located at BUK Road and called for fairness and justice for the governor.
The protests followed the release of the Certified True Copy of the judgement which has some contradictory pronouncements.
It was noticed that the police dispersed the protesters who were mainly under aged children.
Some of the protesters pelted security operatives with stones.
The protest terminated at Gidan Murtala at the BUK road after the police fired multiple rounds of teargas to disperse the protesters.
Fearing violent clashes between supporters of the NNPP and APC, the police had banned all forms of protests or jubilation following the Appeal Court judgement.
A few days ago the police warned that it had uncovered a plan by supporters of the ruling party to protest the outcome of the case.
