Supplementary Poll: No serving commissioner arrested

The Kano State Commissioner of Information, Muhammad Garba, has debunked reports that the police have arrested a serving commissioner in the state during Saturday’s re-run elections.

Mr Garba, a former president of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, also described the reported loss of life due to violence in some polling units as “white lies”.

Witnesses had earlier told journalists that the Commissioner for Special Duties, Muktar Yakasai, was arrested after he allegedly led some thugs to disrupt election at Yelwa Secondary School in Dala Local government area.

Also, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had alleged that some of its agents were killed and others injured in various locations in the state.

Mr Garba, in a statement, said “these negative, false and disturbing reports are nothing but propaganda of the Kwankwasiyya movement of PDP designed and perpetrated to discredit the conduct of the re-run elections in the affected areas as they sense clear defeat”.

He said the elections were conducted peacefully and smoothly, adding that there was and will not be any infringement of law or wrongdoing from the government side as alleged and “mischievously spread by the PDP”.

The information commissioner, therefore, called on Kano people to “disregard these fake news and propaganda and remain calm as the collation of results continues”.