Kwankwaso to go ahead with Kano visit despite police warning
- The looming political face-off in Kano state appears to have no end in sight at the moment
- This is due to the insistence of Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso to go ahead with his scheduled visit to the state on Tuesday, January 30
- The Kano state police command had earlier advised the senator to shelve the visit
Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has vowed to go ahead with his scheduled visit to Kano state on Tuesday, January 30.
The senator's decision is coming barely 2 hours after the Kano state police command advised the former governor of the state to shelve the visit for security reasons.
The police commissioner, Rabiu Yusuf, at a press briefing on Friday, January 27, warned Kwankwaso to either put on hold the visit or be held liable for any security issues that may arise from it.
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There are genuine fears in the state that the visit of the senator is likely going to cause fracas between his supporters and that of the incumbent governor, Abdullahi Ganduje.
Kwankwaso who spoke through the former secretary to the Kano state government, Dr Rabiu Sulaiman Bichi, at a press conference in the state, insisted that the planned visit would go ahead as scheduled.
To make matters worse, the two factions of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, headed by Kwankwaso and Ganduje respectively, fixed their parallel political rallies to hold on the same day.
Bichi accused the state government of plotting to scuttle Kwankwaso’s planned visit.
His words: “It is a common knowledge in Kano that since November last year, news has been going round that Senator Kwankwaso had plans to come to Kano. However, the state government, through its officials, has vowed to stop him from visiting his consistency.”
The former SSG further alleged that three prominent politicians in the state were after Senator Kwankwaso, and accused the commissioner of police of taking sides.
He said the politicians are the commissioner of rural development, Alhaji Musa Iliyasu Kwankwaso and his special duties counterpart, Alhaji Abdullahi Abbas, as well as an APC stalwart, Alhaji Abdulmajid Danbalki popularly known as commander.
He stated that the commissioner for rural development had, on December 16, 2017, and January 15, declared on some radio stations that whichever way Senator Kwankwaso chooses to come to the state, a political programme should be arranged to counter the visit.
According to him, the greatest threat was from the commissioner of special duties who was caught on a video clip and radio that went viral on social media, directing the supporters of the governor to stone the senator whenever he visits Kano.
Bichi alleged that commander, on his part, was on radio stations, threatening that Senator Kwankwaso would be arrested if he goes ahead with the visit.
Bichi said following the inciting statements, a complaint letter, dated January 10, was written to the police, asking them to bring the alleged inciters to book.
He, however, said on January 23, Kwankwaso received a letter from the commissioner of police, advising him to shelve the visit in respect of the threats made by the politicians.
Bichi lamented that Kwankwaso replied the commissioner in a letter dated January 24, but that he refused to receive the letter and also instructed his personnel not to receive it.
“It is instructive to say that should anything happen to Senator Kwankwaso or anybody among his supporters during his visit to Kano, CP Rabiu should be held responsible for dereliction of his responsibility,” Bichi warned.
When contacted on phone, the commissioner of police said that he had already made the stand of the police very clear to Senator Kwankwaso and his supporters.
“I have briefed you about Kwankwaso’s visit and made it clear that there are impending threats associated to his coming to Kano and we are doing our best to douse and neutralise the tension.
“All we want is to ensure that no life is lost and nobody is injured during the planned visit and we will continue to do everything possible to avert this. And that is why we advised Kwankwaso to shelve his visit but if he insists on coming, then whatever happens, the law will take its course,” he said.
On his part, the Alhaji Abbas said what he said in the video clip was a mere political statement and did not mention anybody’s name.
His words: “I am a grassroots politician and we are used to political language. Even Senator Kwankwaso is used to such language. We are all aware of his words of Jan Baki and Goro Dan Ujule.
“We use similar language. By virtue of my background, I cannot incite the public against anybody, but I cannot as well stop people from interpreting my statements to suit their political interests.”
Kwankwaso had earlier said no one can stop him from travelling to his home state despite the police warning.
Kwankwaso said he will visit the state peacefully to see his constituents and nothing more.
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Source: Legit.ng
