CITAD condemns Ganduje’s aide over Facebook posts

By Mustapha Usman, Kano.

The Centre for Information Technology And Development, CITAD, has condemned the comments made by the Senior Special Assistant to the Kano State governor on Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, Zulyadaini Mustapha on his Facebook page.

Mr Mustapha has made an open call for political violence against opposition politicians in the state, a day after an attack on the former governor’s close associates during Sallah durbar.

The governor’s aide, in a series of Facebook posts, urged for a tit-for-tat response to anyone who seems to be an opponent to the government.

Consequently, a statement signed by its Programme Assistant, Curbing Hate speech in Nigeria Project, Shazali Sulaiman and sent to DAILY NIGERIAN, CITAD described the comments as peace-threatening.

The IT promoters also condemned the bloody clash between the supporters of the incumbent governor of the state, Abdullahi Ganduje and supporters of his predecessor and long political ally, Rabi’u Kwankwaso during the Sallah durbar in the state on Saturday.

Read the full statement below

Press Statement

ZULYADAINI SIDI MUSTAPHA SHOULD STOP HIS INCITING AND DANGEROUS COMMENTS ON FACEBOOK!

While we regret the unfortunate incident that happened during the Kano Durbar in which some people were seriously injured as a result of clash between Kwankwasiyya and Gandujiyya political blocs, we strongly condemn the reckless and peace-threatening comments of Zulyadaini Sidi Mustapha, the Special Adviser on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano state.

Friends and followers of this Special Adviser on Facebook might have noticed the series of dangerous and threatening posts the government official has been making since the incident occurred.

It is disheartening especially at a time when respected elders of the state are determined to proffering a formidable understanding and solution to the lingering political tussle between the two sons of the state, a government official with media background is venturing into comments that may not only deepen misunderstanding and cause chaos in the state, but will also create further uncertainty.

In view of this, the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) condemns in strong terms these posts and its content and  further call on the:

  1. Special Adviser on SDGs Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano state, Zulyadaini Sidi Mustapha to immediately withdraw and condemn  his dangerous comments.
  1. Kano state government to call it’s official to order and discipline him on his reckless remarks on Facebook.
  1. Security agencies to use their stipulated power to summon and prosecute the said Zulyadaini Sidi Mustapha on his call to action remarks.
  1. Supporters of both Kwankwasiyya and Gandujiyya to ignore and stop reacting to the posts.
  1. The general public should as well be vigilant and resist to provocative statements that can lead to break down of law and order. They should equally say #No2HateSpeech.