THE Kano State Police Command has banned all protests in the state with immediate effect.
The command, in a statement on Monday, August 21, signed by the Commissioner of Police (CP) Mohammad Usaini Gumel, said intelligence received by the command indicates that two dominant parties, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) have gathered a crowd to launch a protest.
The police vowed to thwart any attempts made by any group or individuals to incite disturbance in the State.
According to the CP, disobeying a security directive will be viewed as uncivil, illegal, and a threat to national security, and as such, will be dealt with according to the law.
“In consideration of the confirmatory intelligence products at the disposal of this Police Command, all forms of street protests are hereby banned across all parts of the State.
“Members of the Public should therefore note that it has come to our knowledge that both the APC and the NNPP members are currently mobilizing rented crowds in the guise of the Civil Society Coalition and without clearance from the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress and without prior approval from the security agencies in the state,” the CP stated.
The police added that information gathered indicated that some members of both political parties are pressuring Civil Society participants to make this choice purely out of concern for their safety and to get ahead of the election tribunal’s ruling.
The ICIR reported that the APC in Kano filed a petition to challenge the victory of Abba Yusuf of the New Nigeria NNPP in the governorship election.
However, the APC governorship candidate Nasiru Gawuna was exempted from the petition filed before the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.
Gawuna, the former Deputy Governor of the state, was not joined as a party in the petition.
The parties involved in the petition are APC as the petitioner, versus the NNPP, Abba Yusuf and INEC as 1st, 2nd and 3rd respondents, respectively.
In the petition filed on Sunday, April 10, the APC alleged that Yusuf was not qualified to contest the election because his name was not on the list of members of the NNPP sent to INEC.
The petitioner further alleged that Yusuf didn’t win the election with the majority of lawful votes, arguing that some of the votes cast for the NNPP are invalid and, if removed from the scores, the APC will have the highest number of votes cast.
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance