After the recent Appeal Court ruling, Musa Ilyasu Kwankwaso, an APC leader and former Commissioner for Rural and Community Development during Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje’s tenure, has accused the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) of instigating political violence in Kano State.
In a media address on Thursday in response to Wednesday’s protests in the state, Kwankwaso alleged that the NNPP, in collaboration with the Kwankwasiyya movement, propagated false information and funded protests, violating the peace agreement signed by both parties.
Despite NNPP supporters staging protests across Kano to demand the “restoration of the voided mandate by the election petition tribunal,” Kwankwaso maintained that the prevailing peace in Kano contradicted the purported tension.
He suggested that these protests were orchestrated to create a misleading perception of unrest in the state and advised the NNPP-led government against squandering resources on organizing protests, urging them instead to await the Supreme Court’s judgment.
Kwankwaso dismissed NNPP’s efforts to seek intervention from the United States, European Union, and African Union as futile and a diversion of resources.
Meanwhile, Abdullahi Maikanon, an NNPP leader in the state, defended the protests as a constitutionally guaranteed right in response to Kwankwaso’s accusations. He accused Kwankwaso of financially benefiting from false accusations against NNPP and the Kwankwasiyya movement.
Maikanon highlighted the presence of security agencies during the protests as evidence of no intention to incite a crisis. He emphasized the discontent among Kano residents, pro-democracy groups, and civil society organizations regarding the court’s decision overturning the popular mandate.
He also added that seeking intervention from the US, EU, and others was a move to correct what they perceived as an injustice.