The Kano State Governor, Engineer Abba Kabir Yusuf has said there is no going back on the conduct of Saturday’s local government election in the state.
The governor said this while presenting flags of the New Nigerian People’s Party (NNPP) to 44 chairmanship candidates in the council election.
The spokesman for the governor, Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, in a statement said the presentation which was held at Sani Abacha Indoor Stadium on Thursday was attended by mammoth followers and supporters of the party.
A federal high court presided by Justice Simon Ameboda had on Tuesday removed chairman and members of the state electoral commission (KANSIEC) and stopped the conduct of the election until the commission was properly reconstituted.
The governor, however said that the state at this moment would not allow anybody to destabilise the existing peace being enjoyed by the citizenry, adding that the state government and Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC) had all the constitutional backing to hold the election.
The statement quoted the governor saying “no one will stop the KANSIEC from holding the polls.”
He stressed that the government was ready to sworn-in the candidates declared winners by the electoral body.
The governor then urged NNPP card-carrying members to go back to their respective wards and prepare well for the election, describing them as real supporters of the party.
The presentation was attended by National and State Assembly members, Commissioners, Special Advisers, party stalwarts/ supporters, and government functionaries, among others.
A Kano state high court presided by Justice Sanusi Ado Ma’aji is expected to deliver judgement in a suit instituted by KANSIEC against 19 political parties on Friday (today).
The judge had on September 26 granted an interim order restraining parties from taking any action that could scuttle or frustrate conduct of the election.
Meanwhile, a High Court in Kano State has directed the Kano Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC) to proceed with the conduct of local government elections scheduled for Saturday.
Justice Sanusi Ma’aji of the state high court gave the order in a matter filed by the state independent electoral commission against All Progressives Congress (APC) and 13 others on Friday.
According to Justice Ma’aji, KANSIEC is empowered by the provisions of the Constitution to conduct, supervise, and hold local government elections across the 44 LGAS.
He maintained that any attempt to truncate the process of conducting the poll amounts to nullity.
Justice Ma’aji also ordered the security agencies to, as a matter of urgency, to provide protection of life and property during the conduct of the election slated for tomorrow.
Recall that Justice Simon Amobeda of the Federal High Court in Kano on Tuesday stopped the conduct of the council election, saying the state electoral commission was illegally constituted.