WHEN a matter is in court, it is said to be under judicial consideration and therefore prohibited from public discussion elsewhere. Doing so would amount to what those in the learned profession refer to as, subjudice. Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa, the majority leader in the House of Representatives, and the member representing Doguwa/Tudun Wada Federal Constituency of Kano state, is standing trial on a six-count charge of conspiracy, culpable homicide, causing grievous hurt, arson, inciting public disturbance, and unlawful possession of firearms.
He has vehemently denied all the charges and the matter is before the court, which, depending on the legal fireworks played by the lawyers, would come up with the verdict of guilty or not guilty. But until then, there is a legal principle that says, “every person who is charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed to be innocent until he is proved guilty”. On the basis of this principle, this article would look at Hon. Alhassan Ado as an innocent person, until otherwise stated by the court.
Therefore, if talking about the status of a person is legally embargoed, the law does not taboo talking about the fulfilments of the character under review, especially when he achieves an electoral feat that is seen as a master stroke, requiring great courage, skill and political strength.
It may be recalled that, pursuant to the February 25th National Assembly Election in Doguwa and Tudun Wada Federal Constituency of Kano state, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had declared a situation of a no winner there, directing the conduct of supplementary elections, which took place last Saturday, 15/04/2023. The initial announcement of the 25 February election gave victory to Alhassan Doguwa, who contested on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
But in what was seen as a manipulated manoeuvre, the returning Officer for the election, announced that INEC had reviewed and declared Doguwa and Tudun Wada Federal Constituency election inconclusive, as a consequence of which, the electoral umpire delisted his name from the list of the Reps-elect and refused to give him a certificate of return, saying, he was declared winner of the election under duress.
While announcing the reason for declaring the election inconclusive, INEC said the difference between the two leading candidates was less than the number of the votes cancelled. It said votes in 13 polling units had been cancelled, noting that a total of 6,917 PVCs were collected in the 13 cancelled polling units which is higher than the total difference of 4,934 votes between Alhassan Ado Doguwa, who is the first, and the runner up, Yushau Salisu of the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP.
It was Pablo Neruda, the famous Chilean diplomat and politician that said, “You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep Spring from coming”. Indeed spring came to the Tudun Wada/Doguwa Federal Constituency rerun last Saturday as Alhassan became an albatross to his adversaries.
According to Terry Eagleton, the English literary theorist, critic and public intellectual, “After all, if you do not resist the apparently inevitable, you will never know how inevitable the inevitable was”. In spite of all the evil machinations against Alhassan Ado, the inevitable became evidently inevitable, as the results of the rerun showed him to be an albatross to his adversaries. This has supported the submission of Jimi Hendrix, my favourite American guitarist, singer and songwriter, who said, “And so castles made of sand slips into the sea, eventually”.
In announcing the outcome of the rerun, the returning officer of the election, Professor Sani Ibrahim declared Alhassan Ado winner, after polling 41,573 votes, to defeat the candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, Yushau Salisu, who scored 34,831 votes.
Alhassan Ado’s victory is not a fluke, he is a grass rooted politician that is the darling of his people, having been winning elections to the Green chambers since 2007. Hon. Alhassan Ado has the traditional titles of Sarkin Yakin Burum Burum and Yariman Dadin Kowa, which were conferred on him by both the District Heads of Doguwa and Tudun Wada Local Governments respectively in 2013. He was also conferred with the prestigious national honour of the Officer of the Order of the Niger, OON, in October 2022, by His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCON.
Since the release of the result, the media has been enthralled, just as the public is agog with the captivating headlines that are heralding the good news of his victory, and it’s inevitable implications to the permutations of the leadership of the 10th National Assembly. Someone wrote and I quote:
Breaking News!
Doguwa/Tudun Wada supplementary elections. Hon Alhassan Ado Doguwa (House Majority Leader) leads with wide margin in all polling units. It appears Alhasan Ado Doguwa has a date with Destiny. With this development, 80% of Speakership arrangement collapses. The game changer is now on board!
Ibrahim is the director, publicity for the APC.