Kano: Deputy Senate President Rebuffs Plan To Arrest Him

Nigeria’s Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau, has rejected calls for his arrest  by the Kano state government , describing the action as reckless and malicious.

Barua’s rebuttal was contained in a statement issued on Saturday by his media aide, Ismail Mudashir, saying the call for his arrest is false and capable of undermining the security and peace of the state.

On Friday, the state government, after a meeting of its State Executive Council, SEC called for the arrest of Barau and the immediate past governor of the state, Abdullahi Ganduje, accusing them of inciting violence in the state. Barau and Ganduje have denied the allegation.

The state’s government calls for their arrest came after the two politicians were said to have decided to recruit 12,000 persons under a religious police outfit named Khairul Nas, to combat the rising insecurity in the state. They have both accused Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of not doing enough to address the menace.

Reacting, Barau surged the governor to focus on addressing the problem instead of chasing the shadow of trying to arrest him, and former governor Ganduje

He explained that he had never uttered any statement capable of undermining the security of the state, adding that the state government is just trying to tarnish his growing reputation, instead of focusing on governance for the people of the state..

The statement read, “The attention of the media office of the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau I Jibrin, CFR, FCNA, has been drawn to false, reckless and malicious claims by the Kano State Government through the state Commissioner of Information, Ibrahim Abdullahi Waiya that His Excellency, the Deputy President of the Senate, made a statement capable of undermining the security efforts in the state.

“It is unfortunate that the state government has relegated governance to this low by concocting and fabricating lies to tarnish the growing reputation of the Deputy President of the Senate.

“There was no time when Senator Barau uttered any statement capable of undermining security efforts; instead, he has been at the forefront, collaborating with all stakeholders to address the insecurity challenges in parts of Kano and other areas in the country.”
“We challenge them to produce the clip in which the Deputy President of the Senate made any statement that could undermine security efforts.

“Until governance was relegated to the background, our beloved state, Kano, used to be a very close second to Lagos in terms of prosperity, but unfortunately, misgovernance has eroded this.”