There is palpable tension in Kano as the local government election in the state, scheduled for Saturday, looms.
The Chairman, State Independent Electoral Commission KANSAIC, Professor Ibrahim Garba Sheka, had worried that elections in the state was like a war, with chaos and uncertainty trailing it.
It is on record that hundreds of Kano citizens lost their lives, following violent conducts of 2007 local government elections, during the Ibrahim Shekarau government, which eventually saw the ruling APP then winning all the 44 local governments of the state.
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Sheka made the assertions at the opening of a one-day training for Civil Society Election Observers of 2021 Local Government Elections in the state yesterday.
He said, ”Election in Kano State requires adequate security because it always looks like the entire world is coming to an end.”
He said he witnessed elections in Kogi, Gombe and Borno states where they were conducted peacefully and people moved around as if there was no poll taking place.
He added that “but in Kano, elections are always rowdy.
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The Chairman, however, said that part of the preparation for the Saturday’s election was praying to Almighty God to make the exercise peaceful and violence-free.
He said election materials, both sensitive and non-sensitive, were ready, adding that the non-sensitive ones are already being distributed to various local government areas.
He added that the election body had delayed distribution of sensitive materials till Friday, adding that adequate security had been provided to accompany the materials to various destinations.
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He further said all security agencies had promised to give maximum cooperation during the exercise, disclosing that the AIG Zone One had pledged to deploy additional Police officers to provide security during the exercise.
In the same vein, Professor Garba Ibrahim Sheka, showed his excitement at the withdrawal of Kwankwasiyya PDP faction from the local government elections, saying they have now had a genuine faction contesting, promising to award results to them if they win.
He said, “initially we were confused as to who was the genuine PDP faction, this is because both the Kwankwasiyya and the Ambassador Aminu Wali faction submitted their papers all genuinely signed by one person from Abuja as the authentic factions”.
