Tribunal Verdict: Save Kano From Chaos, Islamic Clerics Warn

Prominent Islamic scholars in the North have implored politicians, particularly those of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), to thread softly on issues pertaining to the outcome of Kano State governorship election tribunal which nullified the election of Governor Abba Kabir.  

The clerics who reacted separately to the outcome of the poll, described the judgment as a subversion of the will of the people who freely voted the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) candidate in the last governorship poll in the state.

Accordingly, they implored President Bola Ahmed Tinubu not to succumb to the antics of some top ranking politicians of the APC extraction who may be persuading him to undermine the mandate of the people of Kano as the matter goes on appeal.

The clerics alleged that having studied the judgment of the tribunal, they were convinced that an elaborate scheme had been put in motion to snatch the state illegally from the NNPP through connivance with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

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They accused top members of the ruling party of holding clandestine meetings to subvert the will of the people of Kano State using federal might as the matter goes on appeal.

One of the Islamic scholars, Sheik Ahmed Bello Musa, said the people of Kano State, from all indications, resoundingly voted for the New Nigeria Peoples Party and not the APC.

He noted: “We are calling on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu not to yield to the antics of prominent members of the APC who are trying to drag him into an elaborate scheme aimed at subverting the will of the people by snatching Kano which they clearly lost through the judiciary.

“The reasonable thing for members of the APC to do is to wait for another four years to prepare and test their popularity rather than foment trouble, which is capable of setting the entire North on fire.”

Also, Sheik Ahmed Tijjani Yusuf Guruntu who warned of the dire consequence of what he described as brazen and naked rape of democracy lamented that “the electorates who defied everything on election day to cast their votes were shortchanged by the pronouncement of the tribunal”. 

Adding his voice, Sheikh Muhammadu Aminudeen reminded President Tinubu of his promise of renewed hope, noting that “all Nigerians are expecting from the president is to ensure the tenets of democracy are strictly adhered to, especially in the electoral process and the judiciary.”

On his part, Sheikh Abubakar Isah insisted that Governor Kabir defeated the APC candidate in the poll and that there was no reason to go to the tribunal in the first place.

The cleric warned that the brewing crisis “would degenerate if unchecked and has the capacity to cause chaos, not only in Kano, but the entire North, a region that is already grappling with issues of insecurity.

Sheikh Isah continued: “We all know the importance of Kano to the socio-political and economic life of the North. This is so because the state remains the barometer upon which the average Northerner gauges the prevailing tempo of the country.

“We call on our politicians to order and appeal to them not to set Kano and, by extension, the country on fire.”