Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State has announced his readiness to sign the death warrant of Yahaya Aminu-Sharif, the Kano musician, who was convicted for blasphemy.
The 22-year-old singer had in March composed a song that was said to have contained blasphemous lines against the Prophet Muhammad and also shared the song on a Whatsapp group.
Speaking on the verdict in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Abba Anwar, Governor Ganduje noted that it was based on Section 382 (b) of Kano Shari’ah Penal Code of 2000.
“What happened is so important to the state and to the security of the state and the nation in general. What the Court did is absolutely right. And we support it completely. Such kind of irresponsible act, if not because of the state power, nobody could know what would happen in the future.
“The man who did that, confessed to be a follower of a particular Islamic Sect. But the adherents of that Sect rejected him right away. So we need to understand the importance of this judgement. We are lucky that Scholars maintained that it wasn’t a case for a particular Sect, but rather of one who just decided to derail.
“I will not waste time in signing the warrant for the execution of the man who blasphemed our Holy Prophet of Islam,” Anwar quoted the governor to have said.
Speaking further, Ganduje said: “Lawyers just told us that the case could go up to the Supreme Court. So if that happens, I will not waste time in approving the verdict right away. And the second issue is, if the victim did not take up the case to appellate courts, I will not waste time to give the approval for the execution. I will not take more than few minutes to accept the verdict.”
Anwar said the governor made the statement during a meeting with the Kano State Commissioner of Police, Director State Security Service (DSS), Representative of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Eze of Kano Chief Boniface Ibekwe, Representatives of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Representatives of Muslim Lawyers Association of Nigeria (MULAN), Comptroller of Kano Correctional Centre, among others.
