Headlines
Kwankwaso slams APC, PDP, says they have failed Nigerians
Nasiru Yusuf
The presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, stated that he and some other Nigerians dumped the All Progressives Congress and Peoples Democratic Party structures because they failed Nigerians.
KANO FOCUS reports that Dr Kwankwaso made the remarks on Sunday at the 2022 presidential Town Hall meeting in Abuja.
Kwankwaso stated that he is angry at the way some Nigerians are and that this anger drove him to join the NNPP as the APC and PDP systems failed.
He said, “Some of us are angry to the extent of leaving the PDP and the APC because we feel there are better ways of doing things in this country. We feel the system has failed and that is why we have decided to go to the NNPP. “
Kwankwaso, who said the current number of military officials was grossly inadequate, promised that he has made adequate arrangement to increase the number of military officers from two hundred and fifty thousand to one million military, army, Air Force and navy.
He stressed that he was going to take over every square metre of the country and pledged to increase policemen from two hundred and thirty thousand to two million.
“We will be willing to sit down with everyone with grudges in any part of the country to dialogue and at the end of the day, anyone, who decides to do otherwise, definitely, the law will take its course,” he said.
Further on security, Kwankwaso said, if the government was doing the right thing, many people would have put down their arms, adding that those who did not want to do that, it was the responsibility of the government to ensure peace as people went about their legitimate businesses not minding religion and ethnicity.
His words: “Today, in 2022, security agencies could not identify locations, especially, everybody including the criminals are using telephone and these telephones are not difficult to identify and these are the problems.
“In Kano, when I was in government, we constructed roads and of course, gates leading into the city and the idea was to put cameras, scanners so that anybody going into our city should be checked.”
He stated that NNPP was the only growing political party in Nigeria as other party did not have anything to tell Nigerians that was new.“In Kano, there was no child of primary age that did not get a place in primary school. No child of secondary school age that did not go to school after passing exams.
“Provide for people, provide for agriculture, provide for infrastructure, bring the people together, unite then. We had so many programmes and projects and everybody was busy and happy“We brought synergy between the military, the police, the SSS, civil defence. We were working together and we are still working together in Kano,” he said.
On the economy, Kwankwaso promised that, “We will create necessary palliative even if we take subsidy away, which is very necessary in the long term, that it has to be removed for better survival.
“In the economy, there are so many things that are intertwined, the issue of exchange, corruption, oil theft, we are supposed to give out 2.2 million going by the OPEC arrangement but the record is less than that, so we have to do whatever it takes to stop stealing.
“It is very critical to us that we work on how to stop stealing of oil and other assets owned by the nation. The issue of subsidy, we are aware that there is a lot of corruption in the field and the first area of attack on subsidy is the issue of corruption. Subsidy over all doesn’t do any good to anybody but at the same time, we are concerned with the welfare of Nigerians.”
He also revealed that he never borrowed in the eight years that he governed Kano State and that he left so much money in account of the electricity generation, adding that he left over 43 million dollars.
He said, “We inherited a budget, which recurrent was 70 per cent, capital 30 per cent but by the time I was going in 2015, we reversed that. I believe that in this country, we have enough money, enough resources and all we need is leadership that will ensure that every kobo goes into the right place.
“Our party is not based on the leadership of the money bags. Everybody knows that we have an ideology and beliefs on governance. We have done it before and by the grace of God, if we have opportunity, we will do it even better.
“We joined this party in less than seven months, we had our party structure, we have our candidates almost 100%, we have our leadership intact, and are campaigning, right from the sales of forms, we saw other parties spend hundreds of millions to buy but ours was completely different, because we believe in credibility, we believe in capacity and one united Nigeria,” the politician said.
Headlines
Abdulaziz unveils project inspection initiative, trains APC social media inflluencers at Arewa media summit
Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim
The Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Media and Public Enlightenment, Abdulaziz Abdulaziz, has unveiled a regional project inspection initiative aimed at showcasing key development projects in Northern Nigeria, while urging journalists and social media influencers to uphold ethical communication and combat misinformation.
Speaking on Monday at the maiden Arewa Media Summit in Kano, organised by his office, Abdulaziz said the gathering was conceived to strengthen dialogue between government, citizens and the media through accountability, responsibility and ethical communication.
He said effective governance depends on transparency, responsible civic engagement and a professional media that serves as a bridge between leaders and the people through factual and balanced reporting.
The presidential aide also cautioned social media influencers, who command large online audiences, to verify information before publication and avoid content capable of creating division, particularly as the country approaches the 2027 general elections.
According to him, more than 100 All Progressives Congress (APC) social media communicators were trained ahead of the summit to enhance their capacity to communicate government policies, programmes and achievements effectively.
Abdulaziz also unveiled the Gani Ya Kori initiative, a regional project inspection tour designed to spotlight landmark projects executed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Northern state governors that have received limited public attention.
“The initiative will help ensure that citizens are adequately informed about development projects and government interventions across the region,” he said.
The summit also featured a keynote address by the Minister of Information and National Reorientation, Mohammed Idris, who urged journalists and social media influencers to deny bandits and terrorists the publicity they seek.
“The media has an indispensable role in denying violent extremists the publicity they seek while promoting unity, resilience and hope,” the minister said.
He stressed that democracy flourishes when government remains transparent, citizens participate responsibly and the media performs its constitutional role with professionalism, fairness and integrity.
Idris observed that while the digital revolution has transformed communication by making every smartphone a broadcasting platform, it has also accelerated the spread of fake news and disinformation capable of undermining national unity and public confidence.
Declaring the summit open, Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf called on other states to emulate Kano’s Special Reporters Initiative, through which more than 150 young people have been deployed to ministries, departments, agencies and the state’s 44 local government areas to strengthen government communication and public enlightenment.
KANO FOCUS reports that the summit attracted journalists, broadcasters, filmmakers, digital content creators, academics, policymakers and communication professionals from across Northern Nigeria to deliberate on the theme, “Government, Citizens: Accountability, Responsibility and Ethical Media Practice.”
Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim
The Kano State Government says it has executed 1,508 development projects worth more than N928 billion across the state’s 44 local government areas since Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf assumed office, with about 80 per cent of constituency projects awarded between 2023 and 2025 already completed.
KANO FOCUS reports that the Commissioner for Public Procurement, Projects Monitoring and Evaluation, Comrade Nura Iro Ma’aji Sumaila, disclosed this during an international press briefing on the administration’s infrastructure development programme.
According to Comrade Sumaila, the projects cover critical sectors including roads, urban renewal, education, healthcare, security and other social infrastructure.
He said 799 of the projects have been completed, while 709 are at various stages of execution. He added that the state is also implementing 619 constituency projects through members of the Kano State House of Assembly.
The commissioner noted that about 80 per cent of the constituency projects have been completed. However, he said some projects remain unfinished because of rising construction costs caused by inflation.
He said the government has submitted a request to Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf for an upward review of contract sums to enable contractors complete the affected projects.
Breakdown of projects
Comrade Sumaila said the administration spent over N169 billion on urban renewal projects, including road rehabilitation, drainage construction and other metropolitan infrastructure.
He said another N118 billion was committed to constructing five-kilometre roads in 38 local government areas to improve connectivity across the state.
According to him, the government also awarded contracts worth over N6.8 billion for the construction of Kano State Neighbourhood Watch security divisions in 36 local government areas.
He added that rural infrastructure projects covering education, healthcare and other social interventions across the 44 local government areas account for contracts valued at more than N397 billion, while other ongoing projects have a combined value of about N255 billion.
Commitment to transparency
The commissioner said the Ministry of Public Procurement, Projects Monitoring and Evaluation would continue to ensure compliance with due process and technical standards in the execution of government projects.
He said the ministry’s mandate includes monitoring projects to ensure value for money and prudent utilisation of public resources.
According to him, the administration’s investments in infrastructure are intended to improve mobility, strengthen security, expand access to education and healthcare, improve water supply and stimulate economic growth across the state.
Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim
Kano State has emerged as the highest-ranked sub-national government in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for education spending, according to the latest Sub-National Education Spending Index developed by the University of Paris.
KANO FOCUS reports that the ranking places Kano State first among 209 first-level sub-national governments across 15 ECOWAS member countries, underscoring the state’s growing reputation for prioritising investment in education.
According to the published index, Kano topped the rankings with an overall S-WAESI score of 87.21, outperforming other leading regions, including Dakar and Saint-Louis in Senegal. Lagos State was the second Nigerian state on the list, ranking 16th overall.
The assessment evaluated states and regions using the S-WAESI (Sub-National Weighted Aggregate Education Spending Index) methodology, which measures government commitment to education through indicators such as actual education expenditure, spending per student, budget execution, education priority, transparency and evidence-based reporting.
The methodology assigns 35 points to actual education spending, 25 points to spending per student, 20 points to budget execution, 10 points to education priority and 10 points to transparency.
The report indicated that Kano excelled largely due to its strong actual education spending and budget execution, making it the best-performing sub-national government in the region.
The ranking covered states, regions, districts and municipalities across Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Togo, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Cabo Verde.
Kano State Accountability Forum on Education (K-SAFE) said the recognition reflects Kano State Government’s sustained investment in expanding access to education, improving school infrastructure and strengthening educational planning and budget implementation.
KANO FOCUS reports that the achievement is expected to further boost the state’s profile as a leader in education reform within West Africa and provide additional momentum for ongoing efforts to improve learning outcomes across the state.
The latest ranking comes amid renewed attention on education financing across ECOWAS, with experts increasingly emphasising transparent budgeting, efficient resource utilisation and sustained public investment as critical drivers of quality education.
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Kano ranks best in ECOWAS on education spending index
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