The Director, the Department of State Services, Kano State office, Alhassan Mohammad, has warned that the service would not tolerate political thuggery ahead of the general elections.
The DSS director gave the warning on Thursday at the Election Stakeholders Forum, organised by Independent National Electoral Commission, Kano chapter.
Mohammed said no singular act capable of igniting crisis in the state would be tolerated henceforth.
He said, “I want to call on politicians to caution their supporters against acts of destroying campaign materials in the metropolis. This is the present trend in Kano and if that does not stop immediately, it would lead to a dangerous result.
“But before that happens, we are deploying our men out to go after anyone caught in the act. Now, it is time to caution them because I will not listen to any begging for release of anyone arrested.
“Henceforth, anybody caught in the act will be arrested and charge to court no matter who is involved. Enough is enough.”
In his remarks, the Kano State Commissioner of Police, Mohammad Dauda, who equally restated their commitment to ensuring a peaceful atmosphere before, during and after the election, assured that police would remain neutral and non-partisan during the electioneering.
On his part, the state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner, Zango Abdu, declared 5,927,565 persons were captured in the preliminary voter register in Kano.
He explained that the record was still preliminary because section 19(1)(2) of the Electoral Act 2022 requires the commission to display the hard copies of the register for scrutiny 90 days before the election.
Abdul said INEC would track the campaign finance of all political parties as provided by sections of the electoral Act.
He cautioned the key actors to maintain peaceful atmosphere devoid of violence.
He said, “I swore an oath to ensure free, fair, and credible election in Kano and I promised to work under that oath. I owe Kano a duty to carry out credible and transparent exercise and that I will not renege.
“I will also work with the security agencies as team player and servant leader for effective and efficient management of the poll in Kano State.”
