A coalition of groups supporting Governor Ibrahim Shema of Katsina state yesterday in Kaduna declared their position following criticism surrounding his purported call for violence contained in a video being circulated.
The groups under the ageist of Civil Society Alliance for Good Governance said there is a calculated political mischief aimed at presenting Governor Shema as promoting violence and hate with political intention.
Addressing journalists following controversy arising from the allegation, leaders of the groups, Abdulsalam Ahmad and Hannatu Luka, said “We have been following and observing with keen interest, the deliberate attempt by some politicians to tarnish and stain the good image of one of our own, in the person of Governor Ibrahim Shema.
“For the impartial minds in our society, we encourage you to take some time and go through the transcript of Governor Shema’s speech which we have made available here for you in hard copies and intend to post a soft copy online as soon as possible.
“Be that as it may, it is imperative that we take a short synopsis of the speech. Out of the lengthy speech made by Governor Shema, these unpatriotic elements ignored where the Governor enumerated the good works of his administration. They ignored the talk about availability of free medical care; they feigned a deaf ear to the availability of roads network, free and qualitative education, “the group said.
Stating their position, the groups concluded saying “Let us make it categorically clear that Governor Shema never encouraged his supporters to kill anybody, rather he encourages them to crush the opposition at the polls. Even when the crowd where trying to derail in their response, Governor Shema corrected them when he said ‘crush them at the polls. Just as football lovers in Nigeria always encourage our Super Eagles to crush our opponents in the field day.’’
