How Kano REC died preparing for governorship poll
SFrom Ismail Mudashir, Kano
truggling to forestall the repeat of the hiccup witnessed in the presidential election in Kano State, the Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commissioner (INEC) in the state, Alhaji Munkaila Abdullahi died along with his wife and two children in a mysterious circumstance.
Like in many states in the country, the presidential and National Assembly elections were almost marred by the delay in the distribution and arrival of electoral materials in Kano State. From the polling units in the state metropolis, to the ones in the outskirts, the delay in the commencement of the exercise created tension among the electorate.
To forestall the repeat of this, Abdullahi, the REC who was deployed from Kebbi State to Kano last December, summoned all electoral officers across the 44 local government areas of the state for assessment and pre-governorship election meeting.
The meeting, which started about 5pm, with the REC chairing it, ended about 7pm. Before then he had addressed the press through the secretary of the commission, Alhaji Abdulrazak Tukur Yusuf. Nine hours after brainstorming on the forthcoming election, he died at his residence on Sir Kashim Road, Nassarawa GRA, along with his wife and two children. According to the police, the REC and his family members died as a result of inhalation from the inferno that gutted his house around 4.30am on Friday.
It was gathered that when the inferno engulfed the house, the REC and his family members ran into a toilet in the master bedroom, but the thick smoke from the inferno knocked them down. When the security and fire service workers succeeded in entering the house, they were found in coma.
Abdullahi, who joined the INEC in 2011, was pronounced dead at the Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital, truncating his dream of ensuring a hitch-free poll in Kano State next Saturday.
The REC’s death threw the died on the cross, the cross was a symbol of shame because only criminals were killed on it. But he sanctified it and it has become a sign of pride, joy and celebration,” the director, Catholic TV, quipped.
Recounting the words of St. Paul who said, ‘if He hadn’t risen from the dead our faith would be totally in vain,’ Alumuku stressed that, “Our faith as Christians therefore is founded on the resurrection.
“Christians spend nearly 40 days preparing for the Easter ceremonies. It has been a period when we’ve been looking at ourselves as Christians in the context of a nation in transition.”
Bringing the season home and how Nigerians on individual levels may have prepared to celebrate Christ’s resurrection, he said: “In the light of the present political situation in the country, we’ve had a Lenten season which was a mixture of fasting, prayers, thanksgiving and with special intentions for our entire INEC, both in Kano and its headquarters in Abuja into confusion and mourning.
The late REC had worked at the Kano Civil Service before moving to Jigawa when the state was created in 1991. He retired in 2011 as a permanent secretary. The late calm and humble commissioner was born in Gantsa in Buji Local Government Area of Jigawa State in 1951. The one-time special assistant to the former minister of education, Professor Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufai will be remembered for his uprightness and commitment to the ideals of the present INEC chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega.
Extolling the virtues of the late REC, spokesman of the INEC in Kano, Mallam Garba Lawal Mohammed said, “Truly speaking, he was a nice person. He was somebody that always ensured that the right things were done. Just ask any INEC staff here in Kano, the person will tell you that the late REC was committed to doing the right things.”
The police public relations officer, Kano State command, ASP Magaji Musa Majia, said the nation.
According to him: “Despite the distractions of electoral campaigns and all, Nigerians have remained focused. The communities where I’ve worked kept appointments for prayers generally. There was a lot of attention paid to praying.
“This Lenten season was one of prayers and reflections in a special way because people were hoping in the end that God would give us peace.” conduct of the late REC contributed immensely in ensuring peace during and after the presidential and National Assembly elections.
“We wish to observe that Kano State remained peaceful before, during and after the elections of last Saturday. This could be attributed to the late REC who conducted himself as a great Nigerian. We are therefore requesting that we sustain the peace and tranquility in his honour and memory,” Majia said.
He also dispelled the report that the late REC and his family were burnt beyond recognition, explaining that they died of inhalation.
A Kano-based journalist, Murtala Adewale, who once interviewed the late REC, described him as simplicity personified.
“He was a very simple and easy-going person. When I went to interview him recently, unfortunately, I went moments after he had granted audience to a group of journalists on a similar issue. He was about to take his launch, but he stopped and granted me audience,” Adewale said.