Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje does not do things in half measures. In an interview with reporters in Kano, the state capital, he speaks on why he is backing President Muhammadu Buhari for a second term, the alleged under-age voting in the state’s local government elections about two months ago and other issues. TONY AKOWE was there.
The agitation for tenure elongation has generated tension in the APC. What’s the way out?
There is controversy on this, but we have been able to put the controversy to rest. But, let me tell you the issues involved. Those who are advocating for tenure elongation are advocating on the premise that when we hold congresses and conventions, there will be a lot of problems which may longer into election period. Well, that is a perception and it could be that way and it could be that some people wanted to remain in power and so, that reason could be advanced, however, I don’t belong to that school of thought. The constitution of our party has made provision for four years and we have to hold congresses and convention and the Nigerian constitution has also provided for that. So, we have no reason whatsoever not to hold convention. If you say there will be some problem, you should realize that problems are part of the ingredients of politics. There is no way you can practice democracy in a developing country and run away from problem. There must be problems, divergent views and disagreements. There will be never be a time when you have one hundred percent normal period. So, even if there is problem, it is part of democracy. We have been able to move forward, for those who felt we should be able to continue like that, we said no and Mr, President finally hit the nail on the head that he is not in favour of any elongation because it is undemocratic and may lead us to litigations which may not be good for the party and we are happy that we were able to convince the few governors that were for elongation and they are convinced and now, a time table for congresses at all levels will be out.
What is the security situation in Kano at the moment?
When we came in, it was the hay days of Boko Haram and so, we had to work round the clock with security agents. I think what is important is the coordination among the security agencies. That helped a lot in improving the security situation. There was a good coordination among the security agencies and a good coordination with the communities and that brought out a lot of information from the communities. I am sure you heard that a lot of Boko Haram commanders were arrested in Kano because Kano was a good hiding place for them, as a mega city where you can easily blend among others. With modern security gadgets, the security agents are able to fish them out. We are working hand in hand with the communities. Also, we have addressed the problem of cattle rustling and we discovered that the fulanis themselves were part of the problem because they were also snatching cattle from the brothers. We sat down with them and I was able to provide them with some empowerment. Since we entered into that agreement, we have not had any issue of cattle rustling in Kano. We appointed a committee that worked round the clock to ensure that all the cattle that were stolen are returned. We have the Falgore forest which is as big as the sambissa forest. I told the President that I wanted the military to use the place for training and he agreed and I also met with the Chief of Army staff and he agreed and right now, the military are using the place for training. The state government will contribute to the development of some facilities in the forest to make it a permanent training ground. The issue of kidnapping has also reduced. We also are working with the security agents to enact a law setting up a neigbourhood security which will include all the stakeholders in other to maintain peace and stability in such areas. We have bought a number of vehicles for the security agents and hold constant security meeting to access the security situation in the state. We will continue to pray because sometimes, it is the issue of accident which you cannot avoid.
What is your view on the anti-corruption war?
Yes, corruption is fighting back. It is one of the cardinal principles of our party. Mr. President made I very clear during his campaign to improve the security situation in the country, improve the economy and fight corruption. We have taken a cue from what Mr. President said during his campaign and since we came in, the security situation in Kano has improved, the economy is improving. We have taken the issue of corruption seriously and established an anti corruption commission. We employed what we called a junior Magu who is fearless. He is an activist who does not fear anybody and because of his activities, I lost a Commissioner, some permanent Secretaries had to leave and even my Accountant General had to leave and is facing some charges. I gave that commission a free hand. We are constructing anti corruption offices in all the 44 local government areas and we have sent five of our officers to the EFCC for training. We are sending some others to ICPC for training. Our law is on ground and the commission is independent and the commission is very effective. It goes into the civil service and even into the private sector and nobody is being spared. So, I am happy to say that Kano has been rated as having the best anti corruption outfit. I agree with you that corruption is fighting back at the national level and even at the state level. We have People hide under the guise of politics to be attacking the government because we want them to return what they have taken from the government. Of course everyone know how it is at the national level and that corruption is fighting back. But we have to be persistent in the fight. What is important is to refine the system so that those who want to loot government fund will find it difficult to do that. The issue is that our institutions are very weak. We must have a very strong institution so that am junior officer can tell you, sir, this is not in accordance with the rules and regulations and you accept what the junior office is telling you and abide by it because it is not an offence. So, unless our institutions are strong institutions, the anti corruption fight will be difficult. I believe that Mr. President is doing a lot in the area of fighting corruption.
The APC governors are insisting that President Muhammadu Buhari should seek asecond term in office. In your own case, are you seeking a second term?
I am happy that it is not Mr. President that is saying he wants to continue. It is people that are saying he should continue. But, Mr. President has not made up his mind yet. But when he came to Kano, I told him that anytime he decides not to contest, we will take him to court. The Kano State government will take him to court anytime he decides not to contest. So, we are waiting for him. In this country, we saw some Presidents who spent billions on third term. So, what is the issue of second term when people spent billions to go for third term? So, that should not be an issue. In Kano, people are saying 4+4, urging me to contest again and I feel that in other to continue with the good development that we started, and the fact that development takes some time which explain why the constitution provides for second term to allow you consolidate what you started, I am convince that I should go for a second term. Eventually, it will be up to the people to decide whether I am qualified or not.
Recently, you were quoted asking herdsmen to relocate to Kano instead of remaining in the middle belt because of the constant clashes between them and farmers?
This is a national security problem. In Kano, we are blessed with some dams and grazing areas. You must know that the middle belt is more blessed with grazing areas and that is why the problem is concentrated in the middle belt because the climate is different. The climate is more friendly there than in the extreme north. We have started providing some facilities and have identified five grazing areas and we are discouraging our herdsmen from going outside the state. We want to use the falgore forest especially now that the security situation has improved. We have designed how to construct some dams. We had to start with feasibility study and that is what we are doing. There are some rivers and dams in the forest which we have to harness to provide some facilities for herdsmen. That is why we are inviting them to come. When we launched our free vaccination, we vaccinated over one million for free. We also sponsored the children of herdsmen to go and be trained in artificial insemination. The first qualification for that training was that you have to be the child of a herdsman because we didn’t want a situation where we train you and you abandon the trade. We sent 70 of them to Turkey for training and right now, they are practicing artificial insemination. We constructed two modern artificial insemination centre where modern animal husbandry is being practiced. It is a programme we have taken seriously and it is a programme that will be a blessing to Kano state if they can come to Kano and we are able to provide them with some facilities that will sustain them. We know that ouir environment is not the best for herdsmen. But since the Isrealis can convert the desert to one of the best irrigation in the world, we can do the same in Kano. It is not that we have the best environment for herdsmen.
Whatare your achievements in the last three years?
When we came in, we said that our administration is a projection from the previous administration. That was our campaign. We said our government will be a government of continuity, consolidation and initiation of new ideas. The issue of continuity in governance is something that is very important. It is one of the problems in developing countries, particularly in Nigeria, where there is always the urge to come up with new initiatives and leaving what has been inherited. I think that is a disease that has been hunting us for sometimes. In view of the importance, we decided to take stock of all those abandoned projects by previous adminitrations. As time passes, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between what was left behind by one administration or the other. That has been our cardinal principle in trying to move the state forward. Our main philosophy is that, whatever was started by the previous administration was started with public funds for the benefit of the people. So, it is only fair that we continue and complete what the previous administration started. For instance, the Ibrahim Shekarau administration started two gigantic hospitals, but they were abandoned at 30 percent completion. It was abandoned for about 10 years when we came in. We took the drawings, fine tune and modify it and we completed them. After that, we started looking for the most recent hospital equipment. I am happy to inform you that the two hospitals have been completed 100 percent and right now, our staff are being trained to handle those sophisticated equipment. And very soon, the hospitals will start operation. It is not going to be business as usual because we don’t want to run them the civil service way. If we allow that, most of the equipment will break down and the huge amount of money spent on them would have gone down the drain. They will not be able to provide the needed services. We decided to enact law to enable us run them like a private sector hospital, but in conjunction with the state government because they are referral hospitals. We are doing that because providing health services to the people of Kano State, is to reduce medical tourism.
It is also our intention to ensure that Kano is a centre where people from other parts of the country come for medical solution. I think we have started on that because many teaching hospitals have inspected the hospitals and decided to be sending their post graduate students there for training. I believe that when the hospitals are fully functional, especially with some international organisations coming in, the medical tourism will be reduced. That is very important.
One of the projects inherited by your government is the hydro power project. How far have you gone with it?
As you know, I was Deputy Governor in that last administration. There are two hydro power projects. One in Tiga and the other in Challawa dam. I believe that by July, the Tiga hydro power project will be completed. We have also awarded contract to evacuate the electricity to our mega city, while work is on at the Challawa project. There is the longest flyover bridge in the north which is about two kilometers which was also abandoned at about 30 percent completion. We continued with that project and I believe that before the end of the year, the project will be completed. It will cost about N14 billion to execute the project. These are some of the mega projects we are executing. On the the aspect of human development, many students were sent abroad to study various degrees and post graduate degree programmes. We found it necessary to continue to pay their tuition fees. While some states were bringing back their students because of the naira challenge, we decided to continue with such programme. We have over 3000 of them and we are forging ahead. Of course, there is the issue of fine tuning some of the projects which sometimes need to be adjusted because of the economic situation. We also started what we regard as peoples’ programmes, even though what we inherited were also people oriented programmes. Having identified the problems of a mega city like Kano, we had to take certain things into consideration. We identified the fact that transport system is very important in a mega city because when you have so many hold ups, it will affect the economic activities of the city. So, we awarded contract for the review of the master plan of metropolitan Kano. It reviews the development of so many shanty towns and other infrastructural development. In view of this, we needed to reconcile a lot of things in other to have a smooth development of the city. One issue that we took seriously is the road infrastructure. We found out there are always traffic jam in some places and bad roads in some places. Though previous administrations tried their best, there is always room for improvement. So, we identified some junctions and introduced new concept. Apart from the concept of flyover, we introduce the concept of under path. Instead of going up, you will have to go underground. The design has been done in such a way there is no need for traffic lights and no need for people to wait for each other. No matter the number of vehicles that are coming, there is no need to wait for the other person to pass first. They will all pass at the sametime. This is a new concept we saw in Dubai and brought to Kano. I am happy to inform you that the project has been completed and would be commissioned by the President, when he visits Kano. We are introducing it to other parts of the state.
You were once quoted to be rejuvenating the state’s Board of Internal Revenue to increase revenue generation. What is the position?
You are right. In view of the economic situation we found ourselves, it necessary to improve our internally generated revenue. That was not possible until we made the organisation independent. When we came in, we told all the staff at the office of the Head of Service, to return to their office. So that we operate our revenue generating agency, in the most acceptable standard. We advertised and recruited the best hands to run the agency, currently our revenue is increasing because we have qualified hands. But uptil now, less than 15 percent of those who are supposed to be paying taxes in Kano are doing so. We have not gone far. It is a gradual process especially under this democracy. Sometimes, you have to reduce your speed, but there is hope. What we inherited was between N500 million to N700 million per month. Now, we are generating up to N3 billion monthly. It is big leap and we will continue the sensitisation because we have to do a lot of public enlightenment. People don’t want to pay tax especially in developing countries, where people think their money is mismanaged. What we do now is to tag the projects we are executing as tax payers’ money. People are happy to see that and their attitude is changing.
It was reported when you assumed office that your government inherited a huge debt from the previous administration…
We inherited about N300 billion as debt. That was what was reported by the transition committee and I knew that it might create a problem. I addressed a press conference, where I said that it was not a crime to leave a debt behind by previous administration. This is because you cannot get a clear cut expenditure like that. We shall continue paying the debt and completing the projects which by implication, will take care of paying the debt. I am happy to inform you that we are managing that very well. We did not allow that to prevent us from embarking on new projects. What is important is how to manage it, instead of wasting time shedding tears on something that I can manage.
The issue of underage voters was reported and government has not said anything about this. What went wrong?
The answer to this should come from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). For the sake of clarity, the local government election in Kano was the most successful local government election ever held in the state. Not because we won all the seats. After all, previous administrations also won all the seats. When you have a local government election where nobody was killed, nobody was hurt, no building was burnt and had a large turnout of voters, we are bound to say that it was a successful election. I have been around in Kano for a long time and can say in some cases Local government election was not held at all because of insecurity and some local government secretariats were burnt. I am still reconstructing some of such secretariats burnt during previous administrations. In our own, nobody was hurt, nobody was arrested and nothing happened. We had a smooth local government election because of the level of public enlightenment. Regarding the clip you are talking about, let me say that it was totally hypothetical. How can you see a queue of all children with no single adult? That was hypothetical because it was arranged in an artificial election arena that was created. We did not use any card reader for the election and the child was holding a card reader. So, you can see that it was a photo trick. There was no underage voting in Kano. Yes, INEC set up a committee and they came to Kano. The chairman of our electoral commission showed them our records and proved to them that the clip was taken some years back. We used our ICT experts to find out the first time that clip went into the internet. We discovered that the clip first went into the internet in 2015 because you can always verify that. So, I want to assure you that there was no underGe voting in Kano. It was a kind of blackmail and anybody who is in doubt about the credibility of the election should go to court.
What is the current position of the Kano Economic City being constructed by the state government?
Today, this is a reality. That project was initiated some 12 years ago by the Shekarau administration. But because it was not properly handled, it broke down. There was litigations and counter litigations. During the previous administration, we were not able to solve the problem. When I came in, I decided that I must solve the problem. Som I engaged those development partners and had to prove to them that they cannot undertake that project and so, we negotiated and revoked that agreement peaceful and advertise for new investors. We got Brain and Hammers, they came in and we provided them with land with certificate of occupancy, we paid the remaining compensation that was not paid. They are investing about N65 billion on the Kano Economic City and I can assure you that work is going on right now. We have provided the land in the eastern part of Kano metropolis and they have the construction. As wW are having an economic agreement with Lagos, it Kenneth of the areas we shall sit down and see how investors from Lagos can come in there and how foreign investors can also come in. But what is important is that work is already on.
Are there projects you inherited which you consider as White elephant projects and which of these project would you say is of immense economic benefit to the state?
I will not like to describe any project as white elephant project. Of course, because of the change in economic situation in the country, there are some projects that cannot be completed as earlier perceived. But we are working very hard in that. There
