Headlines
Why I can’t reconcile Ganduje, Sanusi–Buhari
Nazifi Dawud
President Muhammadu Buhari has revealed that he could not reconcile Kano State governor Abdullahi Ganduje and Emir of Kano Muhammad Sanusi II because he did not have the constitutional powers to do so.
Mr Buhari said this on Friday, while receiving 7 newly elected Kano lawmakers under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), who were presented to him by Mr Ganduje at the Aso Rock Villa.
The President was apparently responding to appeals by notable Nigerians to intervene in the lingering crisis between Mr Ganduje and Mr Sanusi over perceived political differences.
On Thursday, the Emir of Ningi, Alhaji Yunusa Danyaya, had pleaded with Mr Buhari to save the northern traditional institutions from destruction by resolving the Kano emirates crisis.
“I am begging the President as a father to all to please in the name of Allah to intervene in the problem happening in Kano and settle this dispute between the Emir and the Governor,” Mr Danyaya had said.
However, speaking publicly on the issue for the first time, President Buhari said he was being constrained by constitutional provisions.
“I know my role as the President of Nigeria. By the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Governor of Kano State has his own roles, once a matter is in the hands of the House of Assembly (like in Kano), the President has no constitutional right to interfere.
“I am here by the constitution, I swore by it, and I am going to stand by it. But let me tell you the bottom line of my understanding of the constitutional role is that peace and security of all Nigerians must be guaranteed, where the people are threatened, then I will use my constitutional powers.”,” he said, according to a statement by Garba Shehu, the presidents media aide.
Similarly, Mr Buhari urged the lawmakers to fulfill the promises they had made to their constituents.
“I hope you are mindful of your promises to your constituencies. You went round and you promised your constituencies. I hope the promises you made are within the resources of your State.
“If you made promises outside your resources, it will be your problem because you are going to stand again in four years time. This is very important and it is important for our party,” he said.
On his response, Mr Ganduje thanked the president for the projects he had initiated in Kano such as the renovation of the Kano – Abuja expressway as well as the construction of rail line from Kaduna to Kano, and from Kano to Niger Republic.
Others projects, according to the governor are the “gas pipeline from Ajaokuta to Kaduna and from Kaduna to Kano (AKKK), continuation of the abandoned dualisation of Kano – Katsina highway. So also the construction and equipping of the New Terminal Wing of Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport.”
“We are also appreciative of the efforts being put by the federal government in the areas of security and education in the state. This is highly commendable,” Mr Ganduje said.
Outlining his own achievements, the governor said: “We have done a lot in the area of security, even installing CCTV cameras in black spots and all major routes into Kano state. We also have a multi-purpose vehicle for monitoring, which has helped in arresting kidnappers and Boko Haram terrorists. We have also established an Army Training Area.”
Mr Ganduje also appealed to President Buhari to intervene in the completion of others projects and executing fresh ones.
“Your Excellency our President, we are kindly requesting Federal Government intervention for the completion of the Kano River Irrigation scheme, establishment of a Federal Medical Centre and Desilting of the 24 Dams in the our state,” Ganduje said.
In light of recent events that transpired over my recent comments about the government of President Buhari, I think it is absolutely necessary to shed more light on my decades of relationship with the President, and how I am not doing anybody’s bidding with my remarks but simply reacting to issues that are happening in my country.
What is more, my comments were not aimed at casting aspersion against the person or government of Mr. President.
Far from that!
I joined partisan politics in December 2000 at the age of 24, when I officially became a member of the defunct APP at my ward, Kawaji in Nasarawa Local Government Area of Kano State.
Attack on Buhari: Ganduje suspends media aide
Kano-Ibadan railroad: Ganduje’s aide challenges Buhari
At that time, Kano State was PDP-controlled under the then governor, Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso.
So, I entered politics as an opposition member in my state. As at that time, I was contesting for the position of a councilor at my ward, which ended with my losing the primary election in 2004.
Pioneer Buharist
In 2002, I was in All Progressives Party (APP) when President Buhari picked the membership card of the party and officially joined politics to run for the presidency in the 2003 elections. At that time, I and millions of people particularly from the north welcomed this decision by the President with enthusiasm and zeal and we supported him 100%.
We were basically the 1st set of the so-called ‘cult-like followership ‘ of the President, simply because we believed in him to deliver and lead this country to prosperity.
He came into politics as someone people trusted and whom they see as an upright person that they can vouch for, earning him the nickname ‘Mai Gaskiya’.
We campaigned for him through thick and thin, street to street, the young and the old, and when it was election time, I was assigned by my party leaders at my ward to be the returning officer of our party, APP, for the presidential election which Buhari was contesting for.
We fought PDP hard at my ward to ensure that we delivered the ward to him in the election.
I did not sleep for almost 48 hours then, because I had to accompany the results to the local government collation centre to ensure that the results were not altered.
President Buhari did not win the 2003 general elections, but our party, the defunct APP won the governorship election in Kano State, which ushered in Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau as the new governor of the state.
But soon after that, there was friction between his camp and that of President Buhari, which later on after the 2007 elections led to the creation of a new political party formed by Buhari, that is Congress for Progressive Change, (CPC).
First meeting with Buhari
I, and my political leader at that time, Hon. Balarabe Wakili, a former member representing Nasarawa Local Government in the House of Reps (2003 to 2007) decided to pitch our camp with the President and not with Mallam Shekarau, and it was through Hon. Wakili that I first visited the President on a solidarity visit back in the early stages.
It is still in CPC that I contested for the State Assembly, which we suffered a lot because of the factionalization of the party that led to a lot of bickerings.
Ultimately, I neither got the ticket nor did our party win the election.
May I use this medium to thank the current Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Hajia Sadiya for the role she played in my election back then when she was the National Treasurer of CPC.
My surrogate father-in-law
The President, also served as my wife’s guardian during our wedding in 2006 on behalf of her late uncle, AVM Mukhtar Mohammed who was a very close associate of the President.
May I use this opportunity to tell my wife’s guardian that 14 years after he gave her hand in marriage to me, we are still living peacefully and blessed with 3 children.
We thank him for his fatherly role during the nuptial rites.
Back to politics, at the presidential level, I served as a member of the Welfare Committee of the Presidential Election of Muhammadu Buhari, with the current Minister of Water Resources, Hon. Sulaiman Adamu Kazaure as the chairman of the committee, during the 2011 presidential election.
After the formation of APC, I also served as a member of the Youth Committee during the 2015 elections, crisscrossing this country to campaign for the President which we eventually won and Buhari was ushered into government with popular national support.
Now having given the background of the long-term relationship between me and the President spanning 18 years to be precise, I have never known a political leader throughout my political career other than Buhari, even though I can count the number of times I’ve met him.
NEPU blood
I did not only wish for his success but I equally worked hard with everything that I’ve got for almost two decades to see his dream become a reality, and I will continue to stand by him.
When I see things that are going not the way they are supposed to, I naturally have that urge to try and express my concern about them, because I want things to work right.
I can understand, if by virtue of my position as an aide to a governor in the same party as the President’s that I have limitations and somehow the spotlight is always on me.
But occasionally, despite suppressing my opinions,
I find the NEPU blood in me triggering me to react.
This is in no way, meant to undermine the President or my dear party, APC.
Apologies to Ganduje
To my boss, His Excellency, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, OFR, I want to use this opportunity to apologise for putting Your Excellency in an uncomfortable position due to my personal opinions.
It is indeed something that I never intended to happen, and I am not happy about it a bit. I do not have a boss-and-aide relationship with Your Excellency; I rather have a father-and-son relationship with Your Excellency.
Indeed, I appreciate the support Your Excellency has been according me in the last five years, and I will continue to remain loyal to you and serve my state and my country through your government and in whatever other capacity.
At the end of the day, our prayer is for Nigeria to be great.
In the words of Barack Obama “Do we participate in a politics of cynicism, or in a politics of hope?”
I am an optimist, and it’s our ardent HOPE that we will have the Nigeria of our dreams in which development and prosperity will be the norm rather than the exception; a country we can build a secured future for our children and generations yet unborn.
May we continue to do our best in ensuring this is the Nigeria that our forefathers sacrificed their lives for to lay a solid foundation.
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Salihu Tanko Yakasai, Governor Ganduje’s suspended media aide writes from Kano.
Mukhtar Yahya Usman
Kano state governor Abdullahi Ganduje has approved the reopening of state-owned tertiary institutions on October 26.
Kano Focus reports that the commissioner for higher education, Mariya Mahmoud Bunkure announced the decision on Monday.
The announcement follows the resumption of secondary and primary schools in Kano state on Monday morning.
Ms Bunkure, a medical doctor, however directed the management, staff, and students of the schools to observe Covid-19 protocols.
Mukhtar Yahya Usman
The Kano state Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC) says it will sell nomination forms for local government election candidates from October 19 to December 03, 2020.
Kano Focus reports that the KANSIEC chairman Garba Ibrahim Sheka announced that the election will hold on January 16, 2021.
Mr Sheka, a professor of Economics, said political parties are to conduct their campaigns between October 12, 2020 and January 12, 2021.
He said parties should submit completed forms for the positions of chairman and vice chairman of the 44 local government councils at the state headquarters between September O7 and 13.
Attack on Buhari: Ganduje suspends media aide
He added that completed forms for the 484 councillorship slots should be submitted at the KANSIEC local government offices.
Mr Sheka said the election will take place before the completion of the tenures of the incumbent local government council officers.
“We will hold the local government election on 16th January, 2021 as the serving chairmen completes their tenure on 11 February.” He said
Mr Sheka added that the 2002 Act that established the commission requires it to announce the election date 21 days before it holds.
He however said that due to the huge number of political parties in Kano state, KANSIEC has announced the date 90 days before the election.
My relationship with President Muhammadu Buhari – Salihu Tanko Yakasai
Ganduje reopens Kano higher institutions October 26
LG election: KANSIEC begins sale of nomination forms October 19
Attack on Buhari: Ganduje suspends media aide
Court convicts 7 SIM card registration offenders
Woman who killed own children is not possessed – Husband
Vice-chancellor: YUMSUK shortlists 8 candidates
Ganduje reopens Kano higher institutions October 26
My relationship with President Muhammadu Buhari – Salihu Tanko Yakasai
