By Joy Odor
Senator Rufa’i Hanga on Tuesday lamented that it will have been disastrous if Kano State Local Government Council elections were not conducted because the Supreme court had given a deadline for local government elections to be carried out across the country to enabled the states received federal government allocations.
According to him during an interview with newsmen at the National Assembly, if any states fail to conduct LGA election, such State would not be receive federal government allocations which Kano was happy to conduct its LGA elections with NNPP winning the 44 local government areas’s chairmanship positions.
The Senator, representing Kano Central in the 10th Senate therefore accused opposition parties with a plan to truncate the Kano State Local Government Council election by obtaining court judgement a few days to the poll to disqualify the Chairman of the state electoral commission and five others.
He bemeaoned that if NNPP had fold their hands to the judgement of the other court, the State would have lost the time to do the election and the federal government would not give Kano state a kobo, stressing that with the conduct of the LGA election, Kano are qualified to receive the allocations to local governments, like all other states.
Senator Hangar affirmed that Kano State belongs to NNPP, that was why the party won two seats in the Senate, enough seats at the House of Representatives and the State House of Assembly during the 2023 general elections, noting that it was not surprising.
“NNPP won the 44 local government areas’s chairmanship positions. This however, clearly showed the dominance of NNPP in Kano State.
“At least now you have seen it. I said it, and you saw it now. We decided to conduct the election because we too went to court, a Higher court and the High Court gave us the go ahead to conduct the election, because we have so many grounds.
“I believe it does not warrant stopping us from conducting the election, because the chairman is only a chairman. But the state government quickly approached a higher court and got a judgement which eventually allowed the elections to go on.
“It was the plan of the opposition parties to truncate the process by obtaining court judgement few days to the poll which disqualified the chairman of the state electoral commission and five others, but the state government quickly approached a higher court and got a judgement which eventually allowed the elections to go on.
“It would have been disastrous if the elections were not conducted because the Supreme court had given a deadline for local government elections to be carried out across the country others such states that will fail to do so would not be receiving federal government allocations, but with the elections dully conducted and winners emerged.
“If we had fold our hands to the judgement of the other court, we would have lost the time to do the election and if we have missed the 30th date of this month without conducting the elections, nobody will give Kano state a kobo, but this time, we are qualified to receive the allocations to local governments, like all other states.
Recalled that APC got a judgement without submitting any physical evidence to show that the chairman is a card carrying member of NNPP, thinking they can stop the election but we too went to court, a higher court and the higher court gave us the go ahead to conduct the election, because, we had so many grounds to do so.
“The Constitution says that a card carrying member should not be appointed as an empire in any political election, okay, but I don’t we did not see in the Constitution where the test simply because somebody came and assisted the party, you know, on other things during its political election, hearing campaigns and so on, that is disqualified” he noted.
