Kano Governor Abdullahi Ganduje has vowed to sign the warrant of the death sentence passed on 22-year-old Yahaya Sharif-Aminu for allegedly blaspheming Prophet Muhammad.
The Governor, who supports the ruling by Upper Shari’a Court, said he will promptly sign the warrant if Sharif-Aminu does not appeal the sentence.
Sharif-Aminu, a resident of Sharifai quarters in Kano municipal, was sued for “insulting religious creed, contrary to section 382 (b) of Kano State Shari’a Penal Code Law 2000.”
According to the litigation, he committed blasphemy against the prophet in a song he circulated that went viral via WhatsApp in March 2020.
The Shari’a court, presided by Khadi Aliyu Muhammad Kani, found him guilty of the charge and ordered he should be hanged to death.
Ganduje applauded the judgment while speaking at Africa House, Government House Kano, in a ‘Special Meeting’ with Muslim Ulamahs.
Leaders of the Ulamahs, who represented the three major sects of Islam: Izalah, Tijjaniyya and Kadiriyya, unanimously hailed the judgment.
The meeting had in attendance the 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) and Comptroller of Kano Correctional Centre.
The Governor said: “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 (blasphemy), confessed to be a follower of a particular Islamic Sect. But the adherents of those Sects 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.
“The state government has accepted the death sentence verdict and the rule of law surrounding the case. I will not waste time in signing the warrant for the execution of the man who blasphemed our Holy Prophet of Islam.”
The accused, however, has the right to appeal which exhausts at the Supreme Court.
The accused, who was sentenced on August 10, had 30 days to appeal.
“Today (Friday), he has 12 days left to file an appeal, failure to which he will be killed,” the Governor stated.
He added: “If he does not appeal within the 30 days, I, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, the Executive Governor of Kano, will sign the death warrant.
“If he exhausts his appeal at the Supreme Court, I will not waste a minute to sign the death warrant.”
The prison service said the accused has not appealed the judgment, yet.
No lawyer has also shown up to his defense, it was learnt.
The Nation