Ganduje briefs Buhari on Kano blasphemy case

The Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, on Tuesday, 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.

The Presiding Judge, Khadi Aliyu Muhammad Kani, had given the judgment after finding Yahaya Sharif-Aminu guilty as charged.

Sharif-Aminu, a resident of Sharifai in Kano metropolis, was accused of committing blasphemy against Prophet Muhammed in a song he circulated via WhatsApp in March 2020.

Ganduje told State House correspondents after a meeting with the President at the Presidential Villa, Abuja that he briefed Buhari 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 said his state has flattened the curve of COVID-19 despite the position of the Presidential Task Force.

He said he thanked Buhari for assisting the state with N5bn to tackle the pandemic as well as other security issues in the state.

He said, “On COVID-19, I came to thank Mr. President for assisting Kano state with N5bn to fight the pandemic. That has assisted the state. We have opened five testing centres which are functional, the curve is now flattened.

“We carry out testing maximally but at the same time, the positivity ratio is very low.”