By Ken Afor
Two Commissioners in Kano State, Adamu Kibiya and Yusuf Imam have been relieved of their duties with immediate effect following their unguarded statements against the Vice President Kashim Shettima and the tribunal judges.
Kibiya, the commissioner for Lands and Physical Planning was sacked for issuing death threats to the tribunal judges handling the governorship election petitions in the state.
Also, Imam was shown the way out for his remarks against Vice President Shettima.
It would be recalled that Kibiya, while addressing members of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) during the week at a special prayer session warned the judges not to collect bribes to favour any candidate else they will be forced to choose between life and the money collected.
“Any judge that allows himself to be used and collect bribes and pass judgment that is not right, we want to tell him he must choose between his life and the bribe money he collected,” Kibiya was quoted as saying.
While weighing in on the matter, the Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, in a statement by Baba Dantiye, the state commissioner for Information, condemned the utterances of the commissioners, noting that the views expressed by the officials do not represent the position of the state government.
According to Dantiye, “The attention of the Kano State Government has been drawn to videos trending on social media platforms featuring the state Commissioner of Land and Physical Planning, Alhaji Adamu Aliyu Kibiya making threatening statements on judges of the Tribunal, while that of the Special Adviser on Youth and Sport, Alhaji Yusuf Imam making unguarded and disrespectful statements on His Excellency Alhaji Kashim Shettima GCON, the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“While condemning the unfortunate threat to the judges and the disrespect shown to the VP, we wish to make it categorically clear that the views expressed do not represent the official position of the State Government under the leadership of His Excellency Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf.”
He also said that the officials prior to their overzealous statements were not authorised to speak on behalf of the state government.
“To curtail future occurrence of this magnitude, the state government has directed that no official will be allowed to speak on matters outside their ministries.
“It is important to emphasise that neither of the two officials has any clearance to speak on behalf of the government and neither of them serves as the official spokesperson of the government,” the commissioner said.
Providing more insight into the state government’s position, the commissioner added that, “Besides the good understanding between the government and people of Kano State and Vice President Kashim Shettima, the Kano State governor, Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf deeply respects the person and office of the Vice President, His Excellency Alhaji Kashim Shettima GCON and will not condone any iota of disrespect on the Vice President or any other Nigerian leader.
“For these reasons, the governor of Kano State has relieved the two officials of their appointment with immediate effect: Commissioner of Land and Physical Planning, Alh Adamu A. Kibiya, and the Special Adviser on Youth and Sport, Alh. Yusuf Imam.”
Dantiye added, “The Kano State Government has also directed that, henceforth, no official of government should speak on any matter outside the purview of their Ministries, Departments and Agencies without express clearance and permission. Henceforth, unguarded and inflammatory statements will not be condoned.
“The Ministry of Information is directed to ensure that all media outlets in the state, especially radio stations are complying with the extant guidelines provided by regulatory agencies.
“While expressing our faith in the judicial process, believing very strongly that justice will prevail at all the levels of judicial processes, the Kano State Government wishes to call on all residents in the state to remain law-abiding and continue to go about their normal businesses without any hindrances.”
It would be recalled that after the March 18 governorship election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared governor Yusuf winner after polling 1,019,602 votes and the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Yusuf Gawuna polled 890,705 votes.
Unsatisfied with the outcome of the election, Gawuna in his petition to Kano State Election Petition Tribunal, requested that the election be declared inconclusive.
Gawuna alleged that Yusuf was not qualified to contest the election on the ground that his name was not in the list of members of the NNPP sent to INEC.
He said that the margin of lead is not higher than the votes cast that the election ought to be declared inconclusive.
He requested the tribunal to declare NNPP has no candidate on the ground that Yusuf is not in their register of voters submitted to INEC at the time of the election.
However, Yusuf headed to the Court of Appeal to file an interlocutory application, seeking to set aside the ruling of the tribunal but it was dismissed.
