All Progressives Congress (APC) supporters marched to the head office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Kano on Wednesday to protest against the declaration of Abba Kabir Yusuf of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) as Kano governor-elect.
The protesters, wielding placards with different inscriptions, marched on the streets while chanting different songs.
Some suspected thugs tried to take advantage of the situation, forcing traders to suspend business activities for the day.
Yusuf, popularly known as Abba Gida-Gida, contested the election on the platform of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP).
He polled 1,019,602 votes against his closest rival, APC’s candidate, Nasir Gawuna, who secured 890,705 votes.
At a media briefing on Tuesday, Gawuna said INEC ought to have declared the election inconclusive.
The APC candidate said it was clear that his NNPP opponent did not win on a clean slate.
But in a statement, Umar Haruna Doguwa, chairman of the NNPP in Kano, defended the party’s victory and accused the Kano State government of unleashing violent attacks on Kano residents because of their election loss.
“The people of Kano may recall that few minutes after the historic declaration, the NNPP governor-elect, Engr. Abba K. Yusuf, through his spokesperson, Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, issued a statement urging all supporters to conduct themselves in a peaceful manner during the celebration of the party’s victory, while my humble self as the NNPP State chairman was on air in various radio stations calling for a peaceful celebration, which all party faithful adhered to.”
“The NNPP is in possession of credible information that the Kano state government is organizing another spate of violence in the name of protest against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the security forces working in Kano over the failure of the APC to win the just concluded gubernatorial election.
“We therefore call on all security agencies, as a matter of responsibility, to be proactive as the Kano state government becomes a mad lion trying to create another round of political crisis in the state.”
