APC Congress: Drug Test Mandatory for Contestants in Kano

Garba Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano

All contestants for the executive offices of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Kano State congress scheduled for October 16 would be subjected to mandatory drug test.

The State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Muhammad Garba, who disclosed this in a statement, said all contestants are to visit the state office of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) starting from today Tuesday, October 12, to the closing of the screening exercise for the test.

Garba said the decision was part of government policy to rid Kano of illicit substance and warned that no contestant would be screened without undergoing the mandatory drug test.

He said similar tests were carried out for contestants into local government election as well as political appointees including members of the state executive council before offering them portfolio.

Garba revealed that already, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has mandated the state office of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for the conduct of the tests.

The commissioner disclosed that government would not hesitate to issue necessary disciplinary measures against anyone found with the trace of illicit substance including a compulsory recommendation for rehabilitation.

He pointed out that during the conduct of similar tests on contestants for the local government election, no fewer than 13 councillorship candidates were disqualified and replaced based on a report by the NDLEA, after they tested positive for drugs.

Garba said the Ganduje-led administration has been passionate about fighting illicit drug trafficking and abuse and has instituted programmes aimed at curtailing drug abuse.

The commissioner said the measure include setting up and streamlining activities of the state’s Task Force Committee on Illicit Drugs, which had intercepted and destroyed drugs worth billions of naira.