Kano state government has said the former Vice President and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, is free to use Sani Abacha Stadium for his presidential campaign in the state.
The PDP presidential candidate is
scheduled to be in Kano on the 10th of February for his political rally,
but Kano state government ordered for the closure of the venue of the
rally over alleged total renovation of the facility.
Confirming
the development, the state’s Commissioner of Information, Malam Muhammad
Garba said the state governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has ordered
contractor handling renovation works at the stadium to immediately
demobilize to pave way for Atiku’s campaign to hold.
Garba, however, indicated that the directive does not affect ongoing overhaul of the Indoor Sports Complex.
The
contractor has been directed to remove all machineries from the
precinct of the stadium till after the campaign rally, while the state
darling team, Kano Pillars has been directed to use the Pillars Stadium,
Sabon Gari for its training sessions.
“The general
renovation of the stadium aimed at giving the stadium a face-lift
included the installation of the new scoreboard, the running track and
provision of sources for steady water supply to all parts of the
stadium,” he said.
Garba said prior to the closure of the
stadium, the PDP had slated February 2 for the rally, which informed
government decision to mobilize the contractor only for the party to fix
another date for the campaign rally when the contractor had already
moved to site.
“As a democrat who believes in freedom of
association, the governor did not ordered the closure of the stadium to
frustrate the campaign rally of the PDP. The stadium only closed for the
intended renovation works,’’ he said.
Also commenting on the
issue, the Executive Chairman, Kano State Sports Commission, Alhaji
Ibrahim Galadima, said the closure of the stadium was far from politics.
He
said, “To be honest, the closure of the stadium was far from politics
but because we are in the era of politics people, turned it to be
political. What happened was that the contract for the renovation of the
stadium was awarded by the state government months ago and work has
started at the indoor section of the stadium.
“Therefore, after the
visit of the wife of the President, Hajiya Aisha Buhari and the recent
visit of President Muhammadu Buhari, we realised that many facilities
have been vandalised, hence the decision to commence the renovation
work.”
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