TheCable

Shaaban Ibrahim Sharada, an All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in Kano, says he “narrowly” escaped a plot to assassinate him at the party’s primary. 

According to Shaaban, intelligence operatives warned him not to be physically present at the venue of the election but he ignored the advice.

“Minutes to the commencement of the exercise, I was cautioned by security personnel not to come to the venue of the election and at the same time, I received a text message from the primary election committee chairman in the person of Senator Tijjani Kaura who urged me to be in the venue to start the election,” Shaaban said. 

“To my surprise, the security personnel deployed from Abuja were asked to step down from escorting me to the election venue.

“In addition to this discovery, another person informed me of a rumour circulating on the issue of my assassination all in an attempt to deter me from becoming the APC flagbearer. I took the required safety measures and sneaked into the election venue, thanks to Allah (SWT).”

Shaaban, who represents Kano municipal at the house of representatives, added that: “While the exercise continued, there were further plans to use thugs and end my life on my exit from the venue.

“Later, I equally received another intel that those thugs had already attacked, killed and injured many of my supporters and that prompted me to quickly leave the venue and proceed to the hospital where they were receiving medical attention.

“Thus, for me, the soul of one person is more valuable than to become a governor.”

Shaaban called on the security agencies and the APC to “seriously investigate” the matter and “punish the perpetrators”.

He also demanded the immediate nullification of the primary, alleging that it was marred by irregularities, vote-buying and intimidation.