NNPP accuses DSS of plans to scuttle Kano governorship poll

The New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) has accused the Department of State Service (DSS) of sinister moves with Kano state governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje to subvert the governorship and state assembly elections scheduled for this Saturday.

At a news conference on Wednesday in Kano, a chieftain of NNPP, Dr. Abdullahi Bappa Bichi who spoke alleged that the state Director of DSS in Kano, Mr. Mohammed Alhassan is  the one spearheading the move to create the chaos.

Bichi said that Mohammed Alhassan was due to have retired from the service over a year ago but was illegally retained to execute the hatchet job for his long time friend, Abdullahi Ganduje.

‘’Abdullahi Ganduje’s friendship with Mohammed Alhassan started with Ganduje was the Sole Administrator of Gwagwalada Council in FCT and Alhassan was an SSS officer,’’ Bichi alleges.

According to him, “We have written to Mr. President. We have writtewn to the DG of DSS. We have written to all heads of security agencies and Service Chiefs, drawing attention to this anomaly. No officer is indispensable. The Director has outlived his service year by over a year. His continuous stay in Service is both illegal and immoral. Moreso, he is being kept with the ulterior motive of doing a very unpatriotic hatchet job of subverting the will of the people of Kano State. He is being kept to rig election. He is being kept to undermine democracy.”

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Bichi, a former Executive Secretary of TETFUND alleged that “one of the Chief architects that anchored the subversion of the will of the Kano people in 2019 is the long-term ally and the closest family-friend of the Ganduje family, who, at the request of Ganduje was posted to Kano as the DSS Director of Kano State in 2017. ‘’

“Mr. Ganduje officially requested that Mr. Alhassan be posted to Kano and even when all State Directors have been redeployed to other states, Mr. Alhassan has been kept in Kano for over half a decade without redeployment. We are even more concerned that over a year ago, Mr. Alhassan was due to retire from the Service and proceed on retirement, but Mr. Ganduje wrote officially, again, to the Director General of DSS, pleading that Mr. Alhassan be retained in the Service and be kept in Kano until after the 2023 general elections.

We asked the question why?”

Bichi alleged that “tactical team of DSS who are already in Kano for a dirty job, and are being kept in hotels and safe houses within the state.

He declared that” the 2023 Gubernatorial elections is contest between the NNPP and the DSS which have made it a national project deploying everything at its disposal to steal people’s mandate.”

He said that DSS in Kano under the leadership of Mohammed Alhassan have compromised their oath of service, and we have equally drawn the attention of other sister Agencies to their plot.”

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Bichi appealed to “Mr. President to intervene and cause the DG of DSS to allow Mr. Alasan to proceed on his retirement. He ought to have retired 15 months ago! For crying out loud, why are you keeping him? Is he the only person in the Service? Why are you stifling the growth of other officers by retaining someone who ought to have retired?”

“Let it be on record, that the NNPP in Kano State and indeed the NNPP in Nigeria will not allow the people’s mandate to be stolen again. We will do everything legitimate to protect our votes, our mandates and secure our people and our State. This is the last time we will be writing on this matter. We will not write on this matter again.”

He added that the party members will on Thursday embark on peaceful procession in Kano to protest the continue stay in office of the DSS Director in Kano.

”Gentlemen of the press, we are using this medium to announce to the general public especially the teaming supporters of the NNPP in Kano State that tomorrow, Thursday the 16th day of March, 2023 we will stage a peaceful protest to express our displeasure over the illegality of retaining a retired DSS personnel as director in Kano State.”

”All elected Senators, Members of House of Representatives, all members of state house of assembly as well as all Candidates for State Assembly are directed to converge at Miller Road from where the peaceful protest will commence. If however, before the start of the protest, the DG of DSS or other authorities concerned take the correct action and replace the retired director with a serving one, we shall call off the protest.”

”We are requesting of Members of the Campaign Council, all directors of the Campaign from all the 44 Local Governments to mobilize our youth and other supporters to convene at Kano Club Roundabout for the peaceful protest.”