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My relationship with President Muhammadu Buhari – Salihu Tanko Yakasai

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.
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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.

Headlines
Kano Governor-elect cautions govt against taking loan after election

Aminu Abdullahi
The Kano State Governor-elect, Abba Kabir Yusuf, has issued a Public Advisory to all subsisting and prospective lenders to the current Kano State Government.
KANO FOCUS reports that the governor-elect warned that from March 18 to May 29, no lender, domestic or international, should grant any loan facility to the incumbent Kano State Government without the expressed consent of the incoming administration.
The advisory is contained in a statement issued on Friday in Kano by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor-elect Sunusi Bature Dawakin Tofa.
“Any such loan facility approved and issued to the Kano State Government between the date of election and the date of swearing-in without the explicit knowledge and consent of the incoming administration will not be honoured by the new administration.

“All subsisting lenders to the Kano State Government shall take notice that all terms and conditions for all existing loan facilities shall be renegotiated by the new administration guided by the utilisation audit/review of each loan facility,“ the statement said.

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Kano Governor-elect unveils 65-member transition committee

Aminu Abdullahi
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Kano State Governor-elect Abba Kabir Yusuf has unveiled 65 member Transition Committee.
KANO FOCUS reports that the former Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), and NNPP 2023 Senatorial Candidate for Kano North Dr Baffa Bichi has been appointed as Chairman of the Gubernatorial Transition Committee, GTC, while a retired Permanent Secretary, Abdullahi Musa will serve as the Secretary.
This was contained in a statement issued on Friday by Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor-elect.

“The Transition Committee will amongst other things, facilitate the orderly transfer of power from the outgoing Abdullahi Ganduje Administration to the incoming Abba Gida Gida Administration.
‘’His Excellency, the Kano State Governor-elect will inaugurate the Committee on Saturday 1st April 2023 by 2:00 PM,” Dawakin Tofa.
The Chief Press Secretary stated that sub-committees on various sectors and sub-sectors would be announced in due course.
Below is the list of the committee members:
Sen. AB Baffa Bichi, PhD Chairman
Prof. Hafiz Abubakar Member
Hon. Shehu Wada Sagagi Member
Hon. Umar Haruna Doguwa Member
Hon. Ahmad Garba Bichi Member
Dr Ali Haruna Makoda Member
Barr Maliki Kuliya Member
Barr. Haruna Isa Dederi Member
Dr. Danyaro Ali Yakasai Member
Engr. Muhammad Diggol Member
Dr Ibrahim Jibrin Provost Member
Sheikh Aminu Daurawa Member
Dr. Labaran Abubakar Yusuf Member
Prof Sani Lawan MFashi Member
Alh. Umar S. Minjibir Member
Dr Danjuma Mahmud Member
Engr. Kabir Jibrin Member
Dr Farouk Kurawa Member
Engr. Dr Marwan Ahmad Member
Dr Aminu Garba Magashi Member
Alh. Aminu Ibrahim Abba Member
Alh. Laminu Rabiu Member
Engr. Bello Muhd Kiru Member
Engr. Garba Ahmed Bichi Member
Hon. Tajudeen Othman Member
Sadiya Abdu Bichi Member
Hon. Yusuf Jamo Member
Hon. Nura Dankadai Member
Alh Yusuf Lawan Member
Hon. Umar Maggi Gama Member
Hj Azumi Namadi Bebeji Member
Prof. Auwalu Arzai Member
Rt. Hon. Gambo Sallau Member
Bar. Muhuyi Rimingado Member
State Chairman, NLC Member
State Chairman, KACCIMA Member
Alh. Audu Kirare Member
PS Adda’u Kutama Member
PS Aminu Rabo Member
Alh. Sule Chamba Fagge Member
Alh. Usman Adamu Gaya Member
Engr. Tijjani Yunkus Member
Engr. Abubakar Argungu Member
Alh. Yahaya Musa Member
Rt. Hon. Alasan Kibiya Member
Prof. Dahiru Sani Shuaibu Member
Arc. Ibrahim Yakubu Member
Dr. Kabiru Muhd Kofa Member
Dr. Mustapha Sani Member
Sheikh Malam Abbas Abubakar Daneji Member
Bar. Bashir Yusuf Mohd Member
Bar. Ibrahim Wangida Member
Umaru Idi Member
Dr. Sulaiman Wali Member
Hon. Rabiu Liliko Gwarzo Member
Alh. Kabiru Gwarzo Member
Hj Aisha Kaita Member
Hj Aisha Lawan Saji Member
Ali Yahuza Gano Member
Hon. Auwal Mukhtar Bichi Member
Alh. Musa Fagge Member
Hon Wakili Aliyu Garko Member
Tukur Bala Sagagi Member
Dr Nura Yaro D/Tofa Member
PS Abdullahi Musa Member/Secretary

Headlines
Kano Governor-elect cautions against private construction in public schools, hospital, city wall

Mukhtar Yahaya Usman
Kano state Governor–elect, Abba Kabir Yusuf, on Thursday, advised stoppage of construction works in public places such as schools, hospitals, graveyards, religious and cultural arenas, and along the city walls till further notice.
KANO FOCUS reports that this was contained in a Statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Sanusi Bature Dawakin-Tofa, and made available to journalists.
According to the Statement entitled: “PUBLIC ADVISORY ON THE ONGOING CONSTRUCTIONS IN PUBLIC PLACES,” any person, group of persons or organisations who keep constructing structures on government-owned land or places, are doing so to their own peril.
The Statement reads: “The Kano State Governor-elect, His Excellency, Engr. Abba Kabir Yusuf, has directed that this Public Advisory be issued to all individuals, groups, and other organisations that have ongoing construction in public places viz:

”You are advised to discontinue any construction work on public land within and around the following: All schools in the State, all religious and cultural sites in the State, all hospitals in the State, all graveyards in the State, and along the city walls of Kano.
“You are also advised to discontinue the demolition of, and the construction on, all existing public buildings belonging to the government and people of Kano State.
”This Advisory is issued in the public interest, effective from today Thursday 30th March, 2023 till further notice. Any contravener does so at his/her on risk, please.”
