The Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, yesterday visited the Presidential Villa in Abuja where he briefed President Muhammadu Buhari on the case of a 22-year-old man sentenced to death by hanging by Kano Upper Shari’a Court for blasphemy.
Ganduje told State House correspondents after a meeting with Buhari that he briefed the president on the development that has attracted criticism to the state.
The governor said he “updated the President on the blasphemy case in Kano”.
The governor said the house of the father of the accused was burnt by locals “but the boy was secured, charged to court, and sentenced to death.”
He said the boy can and has appealed the judgment.
He, however, did not disclose the position of the President on the matter.
Ganduje also claimed that his state had flattened the curve of COVID-19 pandemic.
The claim, however, contradicted the warning by the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 that the virus’ curve was yet to be flattened.
PTF Chairman and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, had last week Thursday said the PTF had observed that the nation was already flattening the curve of the spread.
But the National Coordinator of the task force, Dr Sani Aliyu, countered the claim on Monday, saying the PTF was not convinced that the curve was being flattened.
Ganduje also disclosed that he was in the Presidential Villa to thank Buhari for assisting Kano with N5 billion to tackle the pandemic and other security issues, insisted that with massive tests which produced negative results, the curve has already been flattened.
He said: “On COVID-19, I came to thank Mr. President for assisting Kano State with N5 billion to fight the pandemic. That has assisted the state. We have opened five testing centers which are functional. The curve is now flattened.
“We carry out testing maximally but at the same time, the positivity ratio is very low. So, it (COVID-19) is dying down almost on a daily basis. So, I came to thank Mr. President for that assistance.”
Ganduje also said he updated the president on security situation in the state especially the millitary training facility he said the government had set up at the Falgore Forest for over N500 million.