Police Stops CPC Rally In Minna

THURSDAY, 03 MARCH 2011 02:31 ABU NMODU, MINNA

Barely twenty-four hours to the North-Central presidential rally of the Congress of Progressive Change (CPC), scheduled for Minna, the Niger State capital, the state commissioner of police Mr. Michael Zukrumor at a press confrence, announced its cancellation.
“We just sent a letter to CPC to postpone their rally from 3rd of March to any other day.”
In stopping the Minna rally, Zukrumor said the reason for advising CPC to postpone their rally was as a result of the findings that the date conflicted with that of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) rally scheduled for the same date in Suleja.
He explained that the CPC actually wrote a letter to police to provide them with security “but the venue was not stated to enable us provide security for them while the PDP also wrote and indicated the venue which made the police to give PDP a preference.
According to the police boss, to avoid a clash, considering the fact that the CPC rally would start from Suleja where the PDP Niger East senatorial rally would take place the police advised the CPC to postpone their rally in the interest of peace.
The Chairman of CPC in the state Alhaji Umar Shuaibu disagreed with the Police saying that it was not true that it was a deliberate attempt to frustrate the north central rally of the party by the police and government.
He said it was true that they were disallowed the trade fair complex earlier scheduled for the rally but they later settled for the Polo playing ground at Old Airport in Minna.
“It is not also true that we did not inform them early. We informed them since last week, it is just this morning they were telling us that we can not hold the rally, how can a senatorial rally override a presidential rally involving six states including the FCT? Moreover our letter got to them before that of PDP” he added
He declared “we will continue with our rally. Whatever the security breach in Minna tomorrow government and the police should be held responsible.”
Reacting to the development, the CPC said there is going to be a revolution today in Minna if the security and the PDP government of Babangida Aliyu tried to stop them from their presidential campaign rally.
The CPC cried out last Sunday about the grand design by the Niger State government to deny their presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari venue for the flag-off of his North-Central campaign. The state chairman of the party Alhaji Umar Shuaibu has alleged several clandestine moves by the government to frustrate them knowing fully that they will be hosting the entire north central.
According to the CPC chairman they had written a letter requesting to use the trade fair complex for the flag-off of the campaign scheduled for Thursday the 3rd of March, this week only to be written back by the authority of the trade fair complex that the complex had been booked by another organisation between February 28 and March 3.
Umar questioned why the authority of the trade fair complex took almost two days before telling them that the venue would not be available without informing them the first day the party sent the request as was always the case.
“This is dictatorship and we are in a democracy, not only CPC, other parties were treated in the same way, that place is not meant for PDP alone. We must insist to use it because it is public property, except if we say we are in dictatorship,” Umaru said.
The Niger State government had earlier denied complicity in the refusal of the management of the trade fair complex to allow the zonal rally of the CPC presidential candidate Buhari from taking place in the complex.
In a joint press briefing, with the president of Niger state commerce and industry Alhaji Abdullahi Suleiman, the secretary to the state government (SSG) Dr. Mohammed Yahaya Kuta said the government is not the same as the chamber of commerce and industry.
He said the trade fair complex was solely managed by the chamber of commerce and industry which comprised of private sector interests and maintained that the government is not even aware about the visit of the presidential candidate and had not received any notice either from the security or any quarter to the effect.
The president of the chamber of commerce and industry, Suleiman maintained that the venue will not be available for the zonal presidential rally of General Buhari because another event will be taking place there as stated in their letter to CPC.
While supporting the position of the SSG, the president of the chamber of commerce and industry, said that the trade fair complex is a commercial entity that must be booked one month ahead of any event.
Meanwhile, one person was feared dead while several others were injured on Tuesday during a clash between PDP and CPC supporters in Katsina.
The incident happened in Dandagoro village, on the outskirts of Katsina.
An eye witness told newsmen yesterday that trouble started when Governor Ibrahim Shema’s motorcade was returning to Katsina after a political rally in Kankia.
The witness said the clash happened while supporters of the state CPC governorship candidate, Sen. Yakubu Danmarke, coincidentally met the motorcade while leaving Katsina.
Three vehicles, including that of the state PDP chairman were damaged in the incident.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Abubakar Ibrahim, told newsmen that he was not aware of the incident.
He, however, promised to investigate the matter.

http://www.leadershipeditors.com/ns/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=26327:police-stops-cpc-rally-in-minna&catid=51:cover-stories&Itemid=101

nigeria police for so long has been an arm of pdp. so dont be supprissed at all.

Apparently the police did not really succeed. Here's why.



That's Buhari in Minna today.

waiting for beaf's reaction?

oh My God,
let us give Buhari and bakare chance to change this country for good.
pdp has nothing to offer.