From Mustapha Adamu Kano
Police in Kano State, yesterday barred the caretaker committee, loyal to former governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from conducting governorship primary election.
The committee, headed by the former Secretary to State Government (SSG), Rabiu Suleman Bichi, was constituted immediately after defection of Mr Kwankwaso, a serving senator, from All Progressives Congress (APC) to PDP.
However, the committee had not been able to function, following a substantive court order after dissolution of the Umar El-Jibrin Doguwa-led committee by the PDP’s national body recently, who challenged the decision in court.
The Police had also been ordered to stop the committee from conducting any political event, pending a court judgement.
Our reporter gathered that after one day postponement, the PDP national body then ordered that the primary election be conducted today to pick the party’s flag bearer in the forthcoming 2019 elections.
It was learnt that the aspirants screened to participate in the primaries include Jafar Sani-Bello, Sadiq Wali, Ibrahim Al-Amin (Little), Hafiz Abubakar, Abba Yusuf, Aminu Dabo, and Salihu.
It was gathered that the state Police Command had deployed its personnel to the proposed election venue, Mrahaba Cinema, Kano since Sunday in order to stop the election from being conducted, based on the court order.
It was gathered that Police officers had been stationed at strategic places around the place in order to disperse any gathering organised by Mr Bichi-led committee.
When contacted, the factional chairman of PDP in Kano, Ma’ud El-Jibrin Doguwa, said the primary election was stopped by the Police following a court order.
He added that the National Working Committee of the PDP earlier announced the postponement of the primaries in Kano, Imo and Lagos to all chapters across the country.
He lamented that, they had however, failed to communicate everybody that it would hold the primaries today.
“The election committee sent to oversee the Kane’s primaries did not call the aspirants and discuss the party’s arrangements of the election.
“The party should have also transmit the list of the delegates to participate in the election, but it has failed to do so.
“These are the problems bedeviling PDP and need to be urgently addressed if we want to retake power in 2019,” he said.
Doguwa also called on the PDP’s NWC to do the needful by putting heads together, noting that would bring unity and consolidation for the party.
Efforts to contact Bichi Neiyhet for comment did not yield result as he did not pick the calls made to him by our correspondent, nor did he reply the text message sent to him, as at the time of filing this report.
