By Abbas Ibrahim
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) governorship candidate in Kano State, Alhaji Ibrahim Al’Ameen Little, has dismissed allegations that the process through which he emerged as the party’s candidate was manipulated or otherwise questionable.
Little was reacting to claims made by a member of the ADC in Kano, Dr Auwalu Anwar, who alleged that Malam Ibrahim Khalil won the party’s governorship primary with more than 55,000 votes but that the result was subsequently overturned by the party leadership in Abuja in favour of Little.
Anwar made the allegation while speaking as guest speaker at the 76th anniversary commemoration of the Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU), held at Mambayya House, Kano, on Saturday.
But Little described the allegation as untrue, insisting that no governorship primary election was conducted in Kano because the party had earlier resolved not to conduct primaries in some North-West states over security concerns.
According to him, the states affected included Kano, Katsina, Zamfara, Kebbi and Sokoto.
He explained that instead of direct primaries, the party constituted a committee of credible members to facilitate a consensus arrangement among aspirants.
Little said both he and Ibrahim Khalil participated in the process and were present in Abuja during the period being referred to as the date of the alleged primary.
“How can a party primary be holding while myself and Malam Khalil were away in Abuja? Where and when was the primary held?” Little asked.
He also questioned the credibility of the alleged figures attributed to the purported primary, particularly the claim that he obtained exactly 4,000 votes.
“Moreso, how was a round figure of 4,000 allegedly scored by myself? That is very unusual,” he said.
Little further stated that the two aspirants signed a consensus agreement committing themselves to accept the outcome of the process.
He maintained that the eventual decision that produced him as the governorship candidate was therefore the outcome of the agreed process rather than an arbitrary intervention by the party leadership.
“After signing a consensus agreement by both of us to accept whatever outcome, I emerged victorious,” he said.
The candidate appealed for an end to what he described as unnecessary controversy over his emergence, attributing his candidacy ultimately to divine providence.
“Almighty Allah has ordained that I am the rightful governorship candidate. I wonder about the hues and cries,” Little declared.
The centrepiece of the event was the unveiling of Little’s running mate, Abdulkadir Bari, whom the candidate described as a 36 year old ICT professional selected on merit.
Little said the choice reflected the party’s desire to inject youth, competence and technological expertise into its campaign.
“He is a young, competent ICT expert, full of ideas and energy,” he said.