Yesterday’s free for all between supporters of Senator Barau Jibril (APC, Kano North) and Commissioner for Local Government, Murtala Sule-Garo, clashed at Dansudu village, Tofa Local Council, Kano State.
The bloody encounter was unconnected with the struggle over the successor of Governor Abdullahi Ganduje in 2023, The Guardian was told.
Although, the senator is yet to openly declare his interest to run for the number one political seat in the state, posters vividly conveying his intention to vie for the position are flooding the city.
Also, Sule-Garo, a strong ally of Ganduje, is reportedly nursing the ambition to deputise for another governorship aspirant, Nasiru Gawna, it was learnt.
The stage originally meant to flag off the 83km Kano–Gwarzo and Dayi Katsina road dualisation, incidentally turned to battleground where supporters of the two political gladiators brandished dangerous local weapons to fight for supremacy.
The N62.7 billion project was part of Federal Government’s development initiatives attracted by the senator to his constituency.
Earlier, the senator’s supporters had filed out in their numbers with posters, banners and T-shirts with the pictures of Jibril and Ganduje, to celebrate their sons.
The jubilation was cut short when another group believed to be Sule-Garo’s supporters invaded the venue and went after Jibril’s political trail with axes, cutlasses, clubs and other dangerous weapons, leaving several persons with cuts.
The political thugs also destroyed billboards, banners and posters of Jibril, and forced his loyalists to pull off the branded T-shirts.
It took the arrival of Ganduje’s convoy to bring the situation under control. The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Dr. Babangida Hussain, said the road project, slated for completion in 24 months, will have three bridges and expected to last for 20 years before repairs.
He urged Kano government to consider urgent clearing of the right of way, including farm lands, water pipes and houses that span through the entire lane.
