Politics
SULE Lamido, a former governor of Jigawa State, has been arrested by the police in Kano over alleged incitement of supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to disrupt the forthcoming local government election slated for July 1, 2017.
Lamido arrived at the Police Zone 1 Headquarters in Kano on Sunday, April 30, around 10am based on invitation. He was, however, still with the police at the time of filing this report around 8pm.
It was reported that a team of policemen from the AIG’s office was dispatched to Lamido’s residences in Bamaina, Jigawa State and the NNDC quarters in Kano State to conduct search.
Addressing a press conference on the arrest, Muhammad Sabo Sokoto, a deputy superintendent of Police and Police public relation officer, Police Zone One Headquarters, said, the arrest was based on a petition written to the AIG’s office by the Jigawa State government.
“Lamido was accused of inciting PDP supporters to disrupt the forthcoming Jigawa State local government polls which contradict section 114 of the Penal Code. And based on that we invited him and he is still under our custody.
“We are still investigating the matter and if the level of our investigation warrants arraignment of the former governor in court, we will not hesitate to do that,” Sokoto State
When contacted, Bello Zaki, special adviser to Jigawa State governor on Media, confirmed that the government petitioned the AIG over inciting statements he made at the PDP’s state secretariat on April 8, 2017.
Nevertheless, Babandi Ibrahim Gumel, PDP secretary in Jigawa State, has condemned the arrest, saying it was politically motivated to intimidate PDP supporters.
“I can assure you that we are going to court to challenge both the police and the Jigawa State government because we will not let this matter to just die like that. Sule Lamido is our boss and we will not allow police and the Jigawa state government to embarrass him.
“There was nothing wrong in the statements Lamido made on the April 8, 2017. In fact he only quoted President Buhari’s slogan of a kasa, a tsare, a raka, a jira and I see nothing wrong in urging his supporters to defend their votes.”
He, however, said the arrest of the former governor would not deter the PDP supporters from defending their mandate during the election, saying “after all Lamido’s arrest is not something new to him because he has been arrested several times and that did not stop him from doing his politics the way he wants.”
He urged the PDP supporters in the state to remain calm, as the party would seek legal readdress.
– May 1, 2017 @ 09:35 GMT
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