The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has said 36 aspirants vying for positions in the October 26 Kano State council poll have tested positive for different drugs.

Speaking to Peoples Gazette on Wednesday, NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said those tested during the ongoing screening were chairmanship and councillorship aspirants across political parties in the state.

The state Commander of NDLEA, Abubakar Ahmad, on Tuesday, said that drugs such as codeine, THC (Tetrahydro cannabis), benzodiazepines and nicotine, were detected in the body systems of 20 of the aspirants.

However, Mr Babafemi who noted that the drug test policy started under the previous administration of Abdullahi Ganduje said that the figure had increased and was still counting.

The NDLEA spokesperson said, “As I’m speaking with you, those that have tested positive are already 36 and it’s still ongoing. Those going through screening at the moment are both chairmanship and councillorship aspirants. There is no way we can know their political parties. They are coming in their own names, not in the names of any political party. Because it’s a health issue, it’s not what can be made public like that, order than your name and NIN, just to authenticate that indeed, it’s the person that owns the certificate.’’

Emphasising that the agency has been advocating drug test policy in families, schools, workplaces, among others, Mr Babafemi noted that NDLEA wouldn’t see the aspirants who tested positive for drugs as committing a crime, but that only the state government or the state Independent Electoral Commission could decide their fate.

“We treat this as a health issue. We can only offer them support by putting them through treatment and counselling, we’re not treating it as a criminal offence. Depending on the policy, it’s only the state government or KANSIEC that can determine the chances of the aspirants,” he stated.

Ahead of the submission of candidates’ list to the KANSIEC, the Chairman, Sani Malumfashi, alongside his commissioners, visited the NDLEA office on Monday.

KANSIEC noted that 44 chairmanship and 484 councillorship positions were to be contested by candidates of the18 registered political parties, and is expected to conduct verification of candidates before the election.