There is tension in Kano and Bauchi states ahead of today’s Supreme Court’s verdicts on the suits seeking the removal of Governors Abdullahi Ganduje and Bala Mohammed as well as their Sokoto counterpart, Aminu Tambuwal, from office.Armed security operatives have been stationed on major roads and strategic areas of Kano to forestall a possible breakdown of law and order.
Governor Ganduje, his deputy, Nasiru Yusuf Gawna, top government functionaries comprising commissioners, permanent secretaries and political appointees as well as chieftains of the ruling All Progressives Congress have temporarily relocated to Abuja, in anticipation of a favourable judgement from the apex court.
Members of the Kwankwasiyya political group in support of Ganduje’s challenger, Alhaji Abba Kabiru Yusuf, popularly referred to as “Abba gida gida” are expecting the Ganduje’s electoral victory to be invalidated to end the nine-month legal battle for the governorship seat.
The judgement will also determine the political superiority between Ganduje and a two-term former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, who singlehandily ‘anointed’ Abba to run against Ganduje. The Yusuf’s camp expressed optimism of a favourable verdict going by the reasons adduced by the apex court in declaring the APC candidate, Hope Uzodinma as the authentic winner of the gubernatorial election in Imo State.
Feelers from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) camp indicate that they expect the apex court to apply the same reasoning used in the Imo matter since, according to them, it is relatively not different from what transpired during the Kano governorship poll.
In a swift counter reaction, the coordinator of Ganduje’s legal team, Mohammad Abdullahi Lawan insisted the view of Galadima was absolutely without correlation between the facts and circumstances of the Emeka Ihedioha’s case and those of Ganduje. According to Lawan, “ In the former (Ihedioha case), whilst there was glaring evidence of the cancellation of results by officials other than the presiding officers, in the later case (Governor Ganduje) there was no evidence of such cancellation by officials order than the presiding officers.
Instead, there was proven evidence in the Governor Ganduje’s case, that the cancellation of some of the 207 polling units were carried out by the respective Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) polling unit presiding officers as was clearly depicted in the numerous Form ECG 40s tendered and admitted in evidence without any objections by the petitioners.
