By Emeka Mamah
KADUNA—FORMER Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida was, on Sunday, prevented by the police from making his public declaration.

However, the state Police Commissioner, Tambari Yabo Mohammed, attributed the reasons for stopping the rally to what he described as the inability by Babangida’s Campaign Organisation to inform his command on time to enable it make adequate security arrangements  for the declaration.

Mohammed said the police had no right to prevent any law abiding citizen from any lawful gathering if they were informed at least 48 hours before the event.

The police commissioner who denied that there was “an order from above to stop the event,”said that Babangida’s declaration was stopped because his command was not given sufficient notice as required by the Public Order Act.

He said: “Which order? There was no order from anywhere. I am competent to do my job. If I am not competent, I won’t be here.”

Mohammed also said that apart from the Babangida’s Campaign Organisation not giving the police sufficient notice, there was the need to ensure that Babangida’s supporters did not clash with those of the Vice President, Architect Mohammed Namadi Sambo who was in the state to commission the Goodluck Jonathan/Namadi Sambo Campaign office.

President Jonathan/Sambo office which is at one end of Muhammadu Buhari Way (Waff Road) is not too far from that of Babangida which is located at the Murtala Mohammed Square along Independence Way in the metropolis.

His words:“I cannot stop anybody that is lawfully holding any procession or assembly. I cannot stop such persons or groups. But what I do know is that the Public Order Act requires that the Commissioner of Police should be notified 48 hours before any public meeting that has political connotation like the one that was to take place.

“The IBB campaign organization went to my Assistant Commissioner of police in charge of operations at about 10.00 p.m, Saturday, to tell him that they were holding their function yesterday (Sunday).

“You can see that the office of the IBB campaign organization and this Alimi Road (where the Vice President was staying which is also venue of the briefing), are almost 200 or 300 metres away.

Clashes between supporters

“You know that there could be clashes between the supporters of IBB and supporters of the Vice President. Of course if they had adhered to provisions of the Public Order Act, we could have asked them to change their venue or the date so that the two groups do not meet.

“That is the whole essence. If they write tomorrow and say they want to do it, we will not prevent them provided their application is in conformity with the law. We will send our men there to make sure that the event holds peacefully. We will protect them.

“It is not correct for anyone to say that the Commissioner of Police stopped them. This is very, very wrong, I didn’t stop any body. The law stopped them. From previous experience, when different political groups meet, you cannot rule out the possibility of clashes.”

Speaking earlier while commissioning the Goodluck Jonathan/ Namadi Sambo campaign office weekend, Vice President Sambo said the Federal Government was tackling frontally, the problems of poor electricity supply; transportation, including roads, rail and sea; adding that contracts for the construction of a railway to link Lagos with Kaduna among other northern states would soon be signed.

He said the Federal Government had acquired 20 new locomotives to cover a great part of the country, apart from the West_South rail line that would connect the West through the East to Calabar at huge cost to the government.