Guber polls: We did not call for cancelation of election in Kano, other states - CSOs

Civil Society Organizations, CSOs, have denied allegations of calling for the cancellation of the March 18 Governorship elections in Kano State and other parts of the country.

Debunking the allegation, Chairman of the Transition Monitoring Group and Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center, Comrade Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, and the Convener of the Kano State Civil Society Election Situation Room, Ibrahim Waiya, in a joint press conference on Saturday, said they have not made such calls, describing it "as an unscrupulous allegation from a faceless group".

According to them, as CSOs involved in  democratic advocacy, they will not be dragged into any political war by any politically sponsored group, adding that such a false news at this time was not only worrisome, but capable of stirring up crisis in the country.

The statement said “For obvious selfish and politically motivated reasons, some faceless groups in conjunction with some willing elements in the media have cooked up fake stories about civil society organisations calling for cancelation of the governorship election in Kano state and other parts of the country.

“The spread of this fictitious and malicious news, in a time when the political space in Nigeria is already heated up is not only worrisome but also has the potential to further overheat the polity.

“As champions of democracy, we will not allow sneer-campaigners and people with politically motivated reasons drag credible civil society organisations in Kano State and indeed, in Nigeria at large into political wars with political parties.”

The CSOs further charged the general public to disregard such report, as it did not come from any of them, adding that media houses should be wary of political groups masquerading as Civil Society Organizations.

“We call on the public to disregard in totality these wild reports making rounds and using the names of credible organisations and called for the cancelation of the governorship election in Kano State.

“We assure the public that we have never at any time issued such statements nor been a party to such conclusions. We strongly believe in democratic approaches to settling elections disputes and encourage all who are not satisfied with the process to seek redress in the court of law.

“We urge the media to filter credible civil society groups from faceless, politically sponsored groups who hide under the names of credible organisations to concoct fake stories that suit their narratives.

“We implore the media to desist from availing such unscrupulous groups the platform to propagate their disruptive, misleading, and fake stories.

“We warn sternly against the illegal use of our names spin narratives that are capable of further heating up the polity and creating chaos in Kano State and in Nigeria.

“Any further misuse of our names in this direction will be met by litigation,” the CSOs added.