By Adeyinka Adeniran
Hausa communities in the Southwest under the aegis of Coalition of Arewa Forums in the Southwest on Wednesday staged a peaceful protest in Ibadan where they accused President Bola Tinubu of masterminding the political crisis in Kano.
The protesters gathered at the Cultural Center Mokola, Ibadan carrying placards with various inscriptions expressing their support for Abbah Yusuf.
Some of the inscriptions on the placards read, “Justice4Kano”, “Abbah is our Choice” among others.
They said President Tinubu in fuelling the crisis in order to realize his second term ambition in 2027.
The Nation reports that the Court of Appeal recently affirmed the judgment of the Kano State Election Petition Tribunal which overturned the victory of governor Abba Yusuf of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The court had declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nasir Gawna as duly elected in the gubernatorial poll.
Addressing members of the Arewa communities on behalf of the Coalition, the Vice Chairman, Arewa Consultative Forum, Oyo State Chapter, Alhaji Shehu Idris said the general feelings in the north is that President Tinubu’s inordinate ambition for a second term in office was the cause of the crisis
Idris, whose address was read by Alhaja Aisha Ismail, alleged that independent minded leaders in the North are being dealt with “politically” by the All Progressives Congress (APC ) led federal government ahead of 2027 general election
“The information reaching us on a daily basis is alarming. Our people in the various states in the North are mostly of the view that this government is working to suppress the North. Amongst other things they seem to be suppressing our leaders as stated above, and are also subverting the will of the majority of the northern electorates.
“This is clear from the election cases in Plateau, Zamfara, and Kano. As we all know, these three states are volatile states. The perceived daylight robbery and truncation of the will of the people through the courts might not be accepted by the people.
“There is unfortunately, a feeling by our people that this is all being caused by the inordinate 2nd term ambition of President Bola Tinubu who hasn’t even settled into his first term. Anti Yoruba sentiments are growing in the North for this reason.
“Obviously, a degeneration of this situation will impact on us directly as Arewas in the Southwest. If the North erupts due to the hijacking of the people’s mandate by the APC through the courts and Yorubas bear the brunt of it, then we, as Northerners, will not be safe in Yoruba land either.
“We therefore call on the President and his party to stop this crazy quest for power and the grabbing of states, using the judiciary. Mr President has been quoted in the past as saying “snatch it, grab it, and run with it. Power is not served a la carte”. From what we hear coming from the North, this will be resisted this time around. Unfortunately, we the Arewas in the Southwest might suffer for it.
“As our counterparts in Kano, the Yoruba community have cried out last week through a press conference, the growing political tension in Kano is alarming, and it needs to be swiftly addressed by Mr. President through non- interference into the matters of the judiciary as an independent arm of government.
“Finally, we are told that “Law is Social Engineering”. We trust that the Supreme Court, a co-equal arm of government, will redeem its image and not allow it’s institution to be used by a recklessly power hungry arm of government to ignite Nigeria.”
