KCSF Leadership: Bello Still in Charge, Aggrieved Elements Misleading Public
The Kano Civil Society Forum (KCSF) has debunked rumors circulating about a court order askingthe President, Mohammed Bello and his Excos to stop parading themselves as the leaders of the Forum.
Mr. Bello disclosed this in a statement issued to newsmen in the capital city of Kano State on Sunday morning.
The Forum’s management described the claims as “misleading and baseless,” orchestrated by disgruntled elements seeking to undermine the new leadership’s efforts to restore KCSF’s image and glory.
The statement clarified that all contestants in the recently conducted election, including the former interim President of the Forum, Ibrahim Waiya, participated in the election process, and were accorded a fair play level ground to exercise their fundamental rights.
“It should be noted that all contestants who purchased, completed, and returned the nomination forms, including Ibrahim Waiya and his cohort, fully participated in the election process. He (Waiya), in particular, who was petitioned in the process on allegations of lack of accountability and transparency in the management of KCSF’s funds, anti-democratic dispositions, abuse of laws establishing KCSF (constitution), etc. has honored the electoral committee’s invitation to a physical meeting where he responded to the petitions following which the electoral committee cleared him and declared him eligible to contest in the election on the bases that the petition was an older one submitted to the BoT. Waiya woefully lost to Mr. Bello in the election. So, how is it then possible for someone who passed through all these processes to claim to be ignorant of the election?” Mr. Bello said.
According to Mr. Bello, no official court order has been served to him or any of his excos regarding the leadership up to this moment.
“To clear the air, it is good to draw the attention of the public that despite the recent rumors, up to now, no official court order has been served to either the President of the Forum, Mr. Bello or any of the excos regarding the Forum’s leadership.
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“Therefore, we enjoined the members, stakeholders and the general public to disregard the earlier dumbfounded and clueless rumors concocted being disseminated by the previous interim leadership of Ibrahim Waiya, whose tenure expired after being ‘dissolved’ by the Board of Trustees and new democratic election conducted,” The President added.
Mr. Bello reiterates that the new management of the Forum remains committed to its objectives, focusing on collaboration and community development in alignment of Kano State development agenda.
“At this juncture, I wish to reiterate that the new management of KCSF remains committed to its objectives, focusing on collaboration and community development in line with the transformational and developmental agenda of Kano State and Nigeria at large. As such, no amount of distractions or pressure will compel us to surrender our mandates to any disgruntled elements based on their selfish interests,” he said.
The President added that the election which legitimately brought him to power, held on June 8, 2024, was adjudged free, fair, and transparent by various stakeholders, including observer groups and security agencies.
“For the record, the public should note that Mohammed Bello’s led Excos officially remained as Elected Executive Council Members of the Kano Civil Society Forum (KCSF) following a successful election held on June 08, 2024. The entire electoral process was adjudged as a model and described as free, fair, and transparent by a wide array of observer stakeholders including the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress(TUC), Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Department of State Security ((DSS), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC). The election also enjoined technical support from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) among other stakeholders who observed the conduct of the process,” Mr. Bello added.
Also, the statement added that, with the successful conduct of new election, Waiya’s interim leadership, appointed by the Board of Trustees, became null and void.
“It is also worth drawing the attention of the general public to the fact that Waiya’s led Interim Management Committee had never been elected but were rather appointed by the Board of Trustees (BoT) and their leadership has, however, become null and void on June 8th, 2024, following the successful general election conducted by the BoT as provided by Section 2; subsection 3 (f) of the KCSF Constitution.
“The public should, therefore, be wary of the rumors going around on Waiya, gaining ground in the KCSF leadership as he is at the moment, nothing but a floor member of the Forum.” Mr. Bello concluded.
