The Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC) has confirmed that the local government elections will proceed as scheduled on Saturday, October 26th.

This announcement was made by the chairman of the commission, Professor Sani Lawal Malumfashi, during a press briefing at the commission’s headquarters in Kano.

Professor Malumfashi stated that the decision to conduct the election followed a state high court order that granted the commission the right to proceed. “On behalf of KANSIEC, I am welcoming you. You have been informed, and you are informing others. We have followed the regulations. The supreme court rules that we should follow. Is democracy like this?” he remarked, emphasizing the commission’s adherence to legal protocols.

He further explained that when the commission was appointed, they were given a grace period before being sworn in. “Kano State High Court has affirmed our right to conduct the elections. We are going to do the elections,” Professor Malumfashi asserted.

The chairman also listed the political parties that will participate in the elections, including Action Alliance, ZLP, ACCORD, AAC, NRM, and NNPP. He urged electoral officials to ensure they arrive early at their respective polling stations to facilitate a smooth electoral process.

A civil society group, Citizens for Development and Education (CDE), in collaboration with the Organization for Community and Civic Engagement (OCCEN) and Citizens Voice Against Corruption, has accused Federal High Court Judge Justice Simon Amobeda of disrespecting the culture and tradition of the people of Kano.

Ambassador Waiya made the accusation during a press conference in Kano due to judgments the judge has been issuing against the people of the state.

Waiya said the judiciary is being used to truncate democracy, and it is unfortunate that Justice Amobeda has ruled against the state’s independent electoral commission, banning it from conducting local government elections despite the Supreme Court’s ruling that all states must conduct elections before the end of October.

He said some elements in Kano are taking advantage of the situation to truncate democracy and are using Justice Simon Amobeda for their own purposes.

Waiya said that through Amobeda, the federal judge based in Kano is frustrating the government’s efforts to conduct elections in the name of opposition. He added that the government, which came into power in 2023, is battling with the judiciary, and development plans in the state are being frustrated.

Waiya said that 11 days ago, a high court judge tried to prevent the elections from being conducted.

He further said that the group is peace advocates and promoters and raised an alarm that the judge is going to deliver a judgment against the state electoral body on Friday, preventing it from conducting elections. He said the judge decided to withhold his judgment today to conflict with an expected favorable judgment of the state high court for the state electoral body.

The group cautioned the judge that he would be held responsible for anything that happens in Kano.

We will not allow one single person to jeopardize the peace of 20 million people,” Waiya said. “We are not comfortable with what Justice Simon Amobeda is doing. Is there no competent judge to handle cases like this? We are not personally against Justice Amobeda but we are against his attitudes. We are ready to confront him.”

The group said that if the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court refuses to transfer Simon Amobeda from Kano, it is high time that President Bola Tinubu knows that he has ambitions in 2027 and allows the rule of law to prevail in Kano. If he refuses, he should forget.

Waiya said that the judge sat and delivered a judgment on an Islamic holiday without respecting the culture and religion of the people of the state.

By Abbas Yushau Yusuf

The ongoing power outage affecting northern Nigeria for over a week due to alleged vandalism has brought operations to a standstill in most industries in Kano and the region.

Sani Hussein, a national council member of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), stated this in an exclusive interview with a NIGERIAN TRACKER correspondent.

According to Sani Hussein, many factories cannot afford the cost of diesel. Even those that can are counting losses as they cannot shut down operations.

The national council member, who was a former chairman of MAN Kano Jigawa, said maintaining production is a nightmare as 30 percent of operating factories are struggling to meet orders.

Sani Husseini warned that if the situation continues, northern-based industries could lose 500 billion naira due to the power outage in a month.

The industry chief further said many industries have asked their staff to take temporary leave until power is restored. He added that if the power issue is not resolved, it could lead to layoffs and serious unemployment.