By Ken Afor
The two major political parties in Kano State, in court – the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), Friday, signed a peace accord ahead of the Supreme Court’s verdict on the state governorship election.
The primary objective of the peace accord is to guarantee the commitment of both political parties in fostering harmonious coexistence in Kano, encompassing the periods preceding, during, and subsequent to the judgement.
During the signing ceremony, the various security heads and the representatives of the APC and NNPP convened once again to assess and reaffirm their pledges.
The Commissioner of Police, CP, Mohammed Usaini Gumel, said the command is aware that some number of faceless individuals are planning to destabilise the state.
But the CP assured that there would be no breakdown of law and order.
“The police command had adequately attended to a number of plots by some faceless political pressure groups who are hell-bent on fomenting trouble.
“However, we must appreciate and commend the leadership of both the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) for maintaining their position on standing by the peace accord the third time since they both signed the commitment to ensuring peace and orderliness in all parts of the State.
“The heads of the joint security agencies meeting was held at this police headquarters where the security situation was reviewed and the security arrangements agreed upon to be put in place for ensuring no breakdown of law and order before, during and after the State Governorship Supreme Court verdict.
“In addition, the meeting addressed some emerging security concerns with the leadership of both the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), the All Progressives Congress (APC) and some selected Local Government Council chairmen.
“At the end of the meeting, all the stakeholders reiterated their commitment towards sustaining the peace accord signed and to provide that is for every resident of the state to celebrate Christmas/New Year festivities and to stop panicking on the possibility of breaking down of law and order before and after the supreme court verdict on the upcoming Governorship Election Petition.”
The NNPP chairman in Kano, Hashim Sulaiman Dungurawa, expressed his party’s commitment to maintaining peace in the state.
He said, “We all agreed that we are not party to any violence, protest or anything that will bring havoc to our dear state. We don’t take pride in violence.
“On our part, we will do everything possible to ensure that our dear state remains in peace.”
On his part, the APC deputy state chairman in Kano, Shehu Maigari, said the party will abide by the peace accord.
“APC is a peace loving party, it has been and will continue to be. For those that say they will get whatever they want through violence God is watching and he is a living witness. The peace accord we earlier signed, we are on it and will continue to abide by it.
“We understand that there are a lot of things that need to be done and we are proud to say the security agencies have never found us wanting in one way or the other.”
It would be recalled that on November 17, the Court of Appeal in Abuja upheld the ruling of the lower election petition tribunal annulling Abba Yusuf’s election as governor of Kano State.
A three-member panel of the Court of Appeal led by Moore Adumein, in a unanimous judgement on Friday, declared Nasiru Gawuna candidate of the APC winner of the 18 March governorship election in Kano State.
Mr. Gawuna of the APC was declared winner of the election by the court following the invalid number of votes cast for Mr. Yusuf.
Furthermore, the Court disqualified Mr Yusuf as a candidate in the election, on the grounds that he was not a member of the NNPP as of the time of the election.
The ruling was subsequently appealed by the NNPP.
