Headlines
NUJ wants KAROTA personnel deployed to rural areas

Nazifi Dawud
The Nigeria Union of Journalists, Kano state council has called on the Kano state government to deploy operatives of the Kano Road Traffic Agency to rural communities across the state so as to check frequent accidents caused by reckless drivers.
The union revealed this as part of resolutions adopted following a congress held on Saturday.
In a communique jointly signed by the council’s chairman Comrade Abbas Ibrahim and Secretary Abba Murtala, the union also called on the management of KAROTA to “train and retrain its staff to ensure professionalism in road traffic management”.
Also, the NUJ advised broadcast media to always exercise professional conduct and desist from reckless and irresponsible comments especially on political programs, calling on Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to be responsive to its responsibility to safeguard the prestige of the media industry.

Other resolutions contained in the communique are:
- The congress commends the state government on the implementation of the new minimum wage of thirty thousand six hundred naira and called on the government to address discrepancies in payment of teachers and local government staff.
- The Congress while commending the state government for implementation of free and compulsory education, called on parents to also support the government’s effort for the success of the policy.
- The congress in session, also calls on the state government to direct local government councils to support the National Identity Management Commission NIMC with logistics to facilitate easy access for registering of Kano residents, also charged the commission to ensure speedy issuance of the cards.
- The congress appeals to politicians to desist from inflammatory comments that may heat the polity and caused disaffection among the electorates, at this time of elections.
The Congress calls on the state admission drive committee responsible for securing admission into tertiary institutions to ensure that Kano candidates fill their quota in all the tertiary institutions across the country. - The congress calls on local government councils to provide support to the National Population Commission to conduct accurate Area Demarcation which will make it possible for a credible Census.
- The union commends the state government for the appointment of the first female Head of Civil Service in the state, Hajiya Binta Lawan Ahmed and also condoled the state fire service over the death of its Director, Sagir Madaki.
- The congress urged the state government to prevail on the Federal government to ensure speedy renovation of the Kano-Kaduna Express way to avert incessant accidents.

Headlines
2023: APC urges INEC to redeploy Kano REC

Mukhtar Yahaya Usman
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has called for immediate redeployment of the Kano State Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Resident Electoral Commissioner Abdu Zango from the state.
KANO FOCUS reports that the State APC Chairman, Alhaji Abdullahi Abbas said this, when he presented a petition challenging the outcome of the March 18 governorship election at the state’s INEC office on Wednesday in Kano.
Abbas, represented by the state APC Legal Adviser, Abdul Fagge, said that INEC should have declared the election as inconclusive for some reasons.
“The REC manifestly affirmed the allegations of partisanship, favouritism and rigging against him when on March, 20 he connived with the Returning Officer to declare Abba Yusuf of the NNPP as the winner of the governorship election instead of declaring that the election was inconclusive,” he said.

He said that the number of voters in polling units where election was cancelled was 273,442, which was more than twice the margin of win between the two main contenders in the election which was 128,897.
‘’The REC and the Returning Officer thereby disenfranchised the 273,442 voters and acted contrary to the combined provisions of Section 24, 51 of the Electoral Act, 2022, Article 62 of the INEC Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Election, 2022.
‘’There action was also contrary to items 4.2.16, Note 32 at page 84 and item 6 of the table at page 93 of the Manual for Election Officials, 2022.
“It is in view of the foregoing that we once again register our loss of confidence in the Kano REC and demand for his immediate redeployment in line with the dictates of the law, impartiality and respect for due process and the rule of law,’’ he said.
INEC had declared Abba Yusuf of NNPP as the winner of the election after polling 1,019,602 votes to defeat Yusuf Gawuna of the APC, who scored 892,705 votes.

Headlines
Abba Kabir Yusuf urges ‘victory trekkers’ to cancel plans, seeks prayers

Aminu Abdullahi
The Kano State Governor-elect, Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf, has urged his supporters and members of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) to embark on prayers for ingenuity and guidance for his leadership towards delivering the dividends of democracy.
KANO FOCUS reports that this is contained in a statement in Kano on Wednesday by Spokesperson of governor-elect Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa.
The prayers, Yusuf said, are sufficient as a show of solidarity and celebration of his victory at the polls on Saturday and not miles of trek by some of his enthusiasts in some quarters especially given the state of insecurity with banditry, kidnapping and terrorism threatening peaceful movement of people and goods across the length and breadth of the country.

Yusuf also pledged commitment to improved infrastructure and good welfare for the aged, civil servants and private sector among others in the state.
“The incoming Kano State Government will be committed to a greater future of the people with security, health, education, economic, infrastructure and good welfare for aged, civil servants and private sector among others”, he said.

Headlines
Gawuna, APC reject Kano governorship election, ask INEC to declare exercise inconclusive

Aminu Abdullahi
All Progressives Congress governorship candidate in the last Saturday gubernatorial election, Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna on Tuesday rejected the declaration of Abba Kabir Yusuf of the New Nigeria People’s Party NNPP as the winner of the poll in Kano state.
KANO FOCUS reports that Gawuna in his first public appearance after the poll, spoke during a press conference by the party in the state capital.
The Deputy Governor who admitted that power comes from Almighty Allah, however said he aligned with the positions of the party which among others gave INEC 7 days ultimatum to declared the governorship poll inconclusive.
Gawuna who was in the company of party leaders, said it was astonishing that with the same election, 16 of the House of Assembly elections held same day and same conditions were declared inconclusive by INEC.

Meanwhile, the APC in Kano has rejected the announcement of Abba Kabir Yusif of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) as winner of the just concluded governorship election in Kano calling for immediate review of the election result by the electoral umpire within seven days.
The APC chairman, who was represented by the party’s legal adviser, Abdul Adamu Fagge insists that the election should be declared inconclusive because the cancelled votes were greater than the margin between the first and the second parties of NNPP and APC respectively as provided by the Electoral Act.
Fagge said that there was no way the election could be declared conclusive with over 270,000 votes cancelled which a margin shows is bigger than the winner’s votes.
The party also drew attention to the cancellation of sixteen House of Assembly elections in the state, sighting violence as the reason, while the same votes were considered in collating the governorship election.
It expressed dismay saying the two elections took place same day, same time, same places and under the same circumstances.
Fagge said, “based on section 65 of the Electoral Laws 2022, we have written to INEC to revisit and cancel the hasty, wrong and selfish declaration of the NNPP as winner of the elections, and declared the conduct inconclusive”.
He said they have since written to INEC to within seven days revisit the elections based on the provisions of the Electoral laws and declare it Inconclusive.
The Legal Adviser explained that INEC Returning Officer, acted not on the only basis of the provisions of laws.
