By Bashir Mohammed
Kano

Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has cautioned politicians in Kano state to desist from creating chaos capable of scuttling the upcoming bye-election of the Minjibir local government House of Assembly constituency.
The position had remained vacant following the death of the member representing the constituency, late Tahir Hamisu Gurjiya, early this year and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) slated April for election to fill the position, but later declared it inconclusive after it was disrupted by fierce violence.

Hence, the electoral body had rescheduled the bye-election to be conducted on Saturday, July 30, 2016, the situation that drew the attention of government, security agencies, civil society groups and NGOs towards ensuring a violence-free poll.
CITAD at a press conference in Kano yesterday, called on the politicians in the state not to make the election an avenue for revenge on their grievances, advising them to preach free and fair electoral participation to their supporters.
Addressing newsmen, CITAD’s programme officer (peace and conflicts), Isah Garba, urged the politicians from all political parties to accept defeat and throw their weight on the back of the winner, noting that violence would not augur well to the nascent democracy the country and the state are enjoying.

He added that “the security operatives in the state should be more vigilant and have their ears to the ground to snipe any possible violence and address early warning signs to avoid recurrence of violence in the election.”
He also appealed to the INEC to ensure free and fair conduct of the election, calling on the general public, especially those in the constituency to learn from the experience of the cancelled election and fear the possibility of them not having a representative in the House of Assembly till the end of this tenure.

http://www.blueprint.ng/2016/07/28/kano-bye-election-ngo-cautions-politicians-against-violence/