PDP and APC members in Kano resort to special prayers and pilgrimages to Mecca ahead of March 23 poll

MEMBERS of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kano State have gone spiritual over the last week going on hajj to Mecca and visiting mosques in the run-up to the March 23 supplementary elections.

Like 29 other states across Nigeria, Kano State held governorship elections on February 9 but was one of the six states were declared inconclusive. With a re-run due on March 23, the two leading parties in the state are in a neck and neck race in a battle in which Abba Kabir-Yusuf of the PDP, is leading the race with 1,020,465 votes, while Governor Ganduje of the APC is in second place with 987,459 votes.

With both sides wary of losing, their members have resorted to the frequent observation of prayers in mosques and going on pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina. Apart from embarking on non-obligatory prayers and fasting, these party members are said to be engage in the regular sacrifice of animals including camel, cows, rams and goats in various local governments across the state.

Supporters in their thousands have trooped to various praying sites, some outside the mosques with selected Imams leading them in special prayers against political manipulation and electoral fraud. Some businessmen have also sponsored prayer warriors on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in Saudi Arabia, asking for God’s intervention during the polls.

One such businessman said: “We have finalised all arrangements for pilgrims coming to the Holy land in Saudi Arabia for payers for peace in Kano in the next election. On arrival, they would move to the Grand Mosque of Prophet Muhammad in Medina for special morning prayers and thereafter proceed to the Grand Mosque in Mecca for special evening prayers, while the following day, they would proceed to a special mosque on the way to Jeddah International Airport.

“Meanwhile, we have made provisions for vehicles, accommodation and feeding for all intending pilgrims for this special prayer against political crises in our beloved city of Kano in the forthcoming election. As we have also purchased the sacrificial rams to be slaughtered.”

Across Kano, many streets in the city have witnessed peaceful youth protests in recent days with chants of Allahu Akbar renting the air. Last week, one of the groups terminated their march at the Emir of Kano's palace, where they performed Al Qunut special prayers.