Inuwa Yahaya, governor of Gombe, has demolished the campaign office Muhammad Jibrin Barde, a governorship hopeful under the platform the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.
Yahaya who is seeking a second term of office in 2023, is said to be aggressively clamping down on perceived challengers.
The governor was said to have demolished the campaign office located at Liberty Hotel Junction, GRA area of the state, in what appeared to be a disobedience of court order.
A Federal High Court in the state, had restrained the state government and its allies from “demolishing or attempting to demolish or otherwise disturbing the Plaintiff’s quiet and peaceful enjoyment of the Plaintiff’s building or taking any step, doing any act in connection with or dealing in the Plaintiff’s building situate and being at Jekadafari, Liberty Stadium Junction, Gombe, Gombe State, pending the determination of the Plaintiff’s motion on notice.”
The demolition, said to have been carried out on Governor Yahaya’s order, is being linked to his quest to clamp down on possible challengers ahead of the state’s governorship election.
Meanwhile, as at the time of writing, the state government is yet to issue a statement on why the demolition was carried out in spite of the restraining court order.
In the meantime, some political stakeholders and members of the public have expressed their utmost disappointment with the governor’s actions.
“It is shameful to see a governor disobey a court order in such a way,” says Mr. Isa Yusuf, a political observer.
” I would say he wasn’t only selfish, but ruthless, such that he didn’t mind destroying everything his opponents had laboured for in their entire respective lives,” a political stakeholder, who doesn’t want his name mentioned in this report stated.
Like the political stakeholder, a resident of Jekadafari, who witnessed the demolition, Babangida Danjuma, expressed his surprise and utmost shock at the development.
“You would almost think it is not possible for someone like Barde to have his property demolished. He’s a very influential man in this state, and we are all proud of his achievements. But Yahaya’s ego and power toxicity came to the fore again, and sadly it victimised Barde,” Danjuma stated.