THE Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, has sacked the Commissioner for Lands, Adamu Aliyu, who threatened judges handling the election petition tribunal in the state.
In a statement on Friday, September 15, the Commissioner for Information, Baba Dantiye, described Aliyu’s comment as unguarded.
Aliyu had threatened the state’s tribunal judges in response to allegations that the judges had been bought off, asking them to choose between money or their lives.
Briefing Journalists at the Government House, Dantiye stated that the governor held the judges in high esteem and would not tolerate any disrespect to them.
In addition to the commissioner, the governor dismissed Aliyu Yusuf, his Special Adviser on Youth and Sports.
Aliyu had threatened the judges presiding over the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal on Thursday, September 15, while delivering a speech during a solidarity protest organised by the ruling New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP).
“Any judge that allows himself to be used and collect bribes and pass judgment that is not right; we want to tell him he must choose between his life and the money he collected.
“You have seen the conflict (banditry) in Zamfara, Kaduna, and Katsina,” he warned, adding, “I swear because of this governorship seat, everyone will die. The conflict that will start in Kano will be deadlier than the ones in those states and Borno,” Aliyu stated.
Following Aliyu’s bribery allegation, many politicians in the state have expressed fear over the judges’ safety and reservations about the fairness of the verdict that will emerge from the litigation.
The Election Petition Tribunal in the state will deliver judgment in the case between the governor and the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Nasiru Gawuna anytime soon.
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance
