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Tag: Kwankwaso

  • Ganduje: Kwankwaso’s foreign scholarship scheme fraudulent

    Ganduje: Kwankwaso’s foreign scholarship scheme fraudulent

    Kano State Governor Umar Ganduje has alleged that the foreign scholarship scheme of former Governor Musa Kwankwaso is a scam.

    According to Ganduje, instead of following due process to secure admissions for the students, the government engaged the services of “a contractor who collects money improperly from both the government and the institutions, turning the admission exercise into a racket”.

    “When they want to pay bursaries and school fees, they give the contractor, who in turn takes his share before remitting the money to the students and institutions.”

    The governor spoke when he received executives of the National Association of Kano state Students (NAKSS) in his office.

    He reiterated that such arrangement was fraudulent and unacceptable to his administration, adding that he would regularise the scholarship process so the students could continue with their studies conveniently.

    “While some states are withdrawing their students because of recession, we are sustaining the foreign scholarship until our children complete their studies and return home,” Ganduje said.

    He said his government inherited a huge liability of unpaid scholarships for students in foreign universities, noting that though efforts were made to settle some, about N3 billion was outstanding.

    He berated his predecessor for not paying for the local scholarship, running into four years, lamenting that outstanding claim by students in private universities was over N2 billion, besides the amount due to students in public universities.

    Ganduje urged the students to shun machinations of those he said “obstructed education instead of promoting it”.

    NAKSS President Aliyu Muhammad Rano said his members from the association’s 57 chapters support the government’s cancellation of free education because it was unrealistic.

  • Ganduje blasts Kwankwaso on Kano light rail project

    Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje has slamemd those condemning his administration’s proposed light-rail project, describing them as enemies of the state bent on pulling down his government.

    Ganduje’s reaction followed reported criticism by the Kwankwassiyya Movement loyal to former Governor Musa Kwankwaso, calling the project a “misplaced priority that will not benefit the state”.

    Ganduje, who just returned from China where he struck a deal with the Chinese government on the project, constituted a 13-man implementation committee on the project, headed by the District Head of Tofa local government, Alhaji Isyaku Umar Tofa.

    The governor said: “So, for those doubting Thomases, day-dreamers, distracters, liars, ignorant people and political vandals who are anti-development of Kano State, we will like to inform them that this project is a project that will make Kano a mega-city.”

    Ganduje said his government would not succumb to any intimidation meant to circumvent his good policies to better the life of the people.

    He added: “We visited the headquarters; we inspected some of their projects in China and saw they are also handling the light-rail project in Saudi Arabia. We even entered the train from Tianjin to China and it was very fast. But the one in Kano city will not be very fast because we can only do high speed inter-city, like from Lagos to Kano.

    “We met with three banks—the Bank of China, China Development Bank and China Import and Export Bank and right now, the banks are competing to give us proposals.

    “We also met with the China Sure, an Ensuring outfit of the Chinese government which will coordinate the loan, and of course, the bank is expected to give 85 per cent of the total cost which is $1.8 billion while Kano State will give 15 per cent.

    “We are negotiating on the interest, but from the look of things, the interest will not be more than three per cent, unlike in Nigeria where the interest is not below 15 per cent.

    “Also, the repayment period is up to 15 years; and when we calculated, we concluded that from our increase in the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), we will be able to pay the 15 per cent. The repayment period will also start after the project is completed.

    “Anybody who thinks light rail can be developed within a metropolitan city without bank loan is ignorant of modern day development. So, I assure the people that we are bent in making Kano a mega-city because a mega-city is not only based on population.

    “A mega-city is based on the services that are provided within the city and light rail is one of them. We pray we succeed. What is left now is the final articulation and agreement between China and Kano state, as well as the Federal Government’s approval, which is also the guarantor of the loan. Once these issues are settled, the project will start.”

  • Audu won in 2015, says Kwankwaso

    The immediate past governor of Kano State, Senator Rabiu Kwakwanso, has said the late Prince Abubakar Audu won the 2015 Governorship Election in Kogi State, but that God in his mercy decided that he would not come back to continue from where he stopped in the state.

    Kwankwaso, a serving senator, said this yesterday at the first annual lecture held to commemorate one year of the late political icon’s demise, held at his ancestral home, in Ogbonicha, Ofu Local Government, and called for the sustainability of his development legacies in the state.

    Kwankwaso said the late Audu’s death is a lesson to Nigerians, pointing out that the two-time governor gained the maximum support during his electioneering campaign but is no more to fulfil all the promises made to his people.

    While eulogising him for his remarkable achievement between 1992 and 2003, he noted that his name will forever be written in gold, not only in Kogi State, adding that a bridge was named in his honour in Kano State.

    He added that if the late Audu were to be alive as governor, Kogi State would have been wearing a new look, charging leaders in the state to immortalise him for all his achievement in education, health, youth empowerment, and housing.

  • ‘Ganduje’ll probe Kwankwaso’s govt’

    ‘Ganduje’ll probe Kwankwaso’s govt’

    Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje has threatened to probe the administration of former Governor Musa Kwankwaso for alleged illegal land deals,  and financial irregularities in education as well as infrastructure.

    This is against the backdrop of a threat by the Kwankwasiyya Solidarity forum to institute a legal action, within 48 hours, if Ganduje failed to stop using the red cap.

    A statement by the Commissioner of Information, Mohammed Garba, warned the Kwankwasiyya movement against such allegations and threatened to probe Kwankwaso’s govt for lack of transparency.

    Ganduje, however, insisted that his government will not be distracted by the spread of falsehood by the Kwankwasiyya forum, but will go ahead in implementing laudable programmes, projects and policies to improve the quality of life.

  • Kwankwaso’s misstep

    Kwankwaso’s misstep

    •The former governor should not tell Governor Ambode what market to relocate

    Former Kano State governor Rabiu Kwankwaso stoked a wrong fire in Lagos when he visited the city. He asked the state governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, to go back on his decision to relocate the Mile 12 Market.

    Kwankwaso, who is now senator representing Kano, characterised Governor Ambode’s decision as “unfair and unacceptable” and a witch-hunt of the Hausa-Fulani community in the state.

    This action is not only divisive but beneath the dignity of a person who was voted to run a state in the federation. His action ran foul of decency as he did not think it necessary to liaise with the state governor. If he had a grievance, as he seemed to have, he should have communicated with the chief executive of the state and formalised his objection.

    He acted as though he was not once enthroned as a state leader and did not recognise the etiquette and civility of government business. It was in order that he came to town to execute the bail of tens of citizens who were arrested over murderous violence that racked the major market in March.

    Rather than address the reasons for the outburst of violence, he took sides and presented himself as tribal and sectarian champion. Did the former governor not follow the news? Or was he only partially tuned to the developments in that vast and bubbly market? In March, the Mile 12 Market tumbled into chaos as young men, including those bailed by the former governor, went on the rampage, killing and maiming. Market stalls and nearby buildings and homes were gutted by fire.

    It was an unacceptable orgy of slaughter. The market was closed down but even that did not prevent some of the hoodlums from perpetrating more mayhem. Again, this was not the first time that market would make headlines for the wrong reasons.

    Senator Kwankwaso reportedly gathered those teenagers whom he bailed out and gave them money to set up businesses outside the state. The former governor just enlisted himself in the ignoble register of top Nigerians who look at the nation through jaundiced ethnic lens.

    He is not aware that Mile 12 is not the only market that is planned for relocation. Such markets as Tejuosho, Alaba and Balogun have been relocated. Recently, Oshodi Market has been shut down and will be relocated. Ladipo Market is also billed for relocation.

    It is the reality of modernisation. As the state undergoes infrastructure renewal, old mainstays are either tweaked or overhauled, or completely removed.

    The Mile 12 Market was not the commercial place for Hausa-Fulanis alone. Yorubas, Igbos, Niger Delta citizens also traded there. The relocation will affect all of them. They are going to a place called Imota, and Senator Kwankwaso did not even investigate the place or visit there to assess its suitability.

    The members of Arewa community in Lagos are at one with Governor Ambode’s decision to change the market’s location.

    Said its secretary, Musa Saleh: “We wish to state categorically without any fear of equivocation that we are 100 percent in support of the relocation of Mile 12 Market to the new ultra-modern agricultural market at Imota currently being developed by the Lagos State Government and we are ready to move to the new market as soon as possible.”

    It is a pity that Senator Kwankwaso, who came second in the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primaries with an ambition to run this country of multi-ethnic array, came to the same city to divide rather than unite.

    Kwankwaso should step back from such bigoted image.

     

  • Kwankwaso begs Ambode over Mile 12 market

    Kwankwaso begs Ambode over Mile 12 market

    Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has appealed to Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to reconsider his stand on the planned relocation of Mile 12 Market to Imota, on the outskirts of the metropolis.

    He spoke yesterday at the Mile 12 Market while addressing the affected traders and their leaders, stressing they must be law abiding and peaceful.

    The Mile 12 Market was shut for days in March following a riot. After it was reopened, the government unveiled its plan to relocate the market to Imota.

    The decision did not go down well with the Hausa traders, who felt it would affect their economic interest because, according to them “Imota is remote”.

    Kwankwaso, who noted that the Hausa and the other tribes, had co-existed in different parts of the country over the years, called for continued unity of purpose among the people in the market.

    He recalled his relationship with former governors Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Babatunde Fashola, whom he described as brothers and urged Ambode to follow their steps by rescinding his decision to relocate the market.

    While promising to further hold talks with Ambode on the issue, he was of the opinion that having existed for about 40 years, maintaining the status quo would only be in consonance with fairness and justice.

    He also underscored the contributions of the affected traders in the victory of the All Progressive Party (APC) during the last election, stating that such collaboration should not be undermined by any action of the government which could be misinterpreted as lack of gratitude.

  • Sylva, Kwankwaso: A puzzle

    Sylva, Kwankwaso: A puzzle

    Is the world fair to politicians? Or are politicians fair to the world? Deciding this week to write on two politicians-Timipre Sylva and Rabiu Kwankwaso- I did a quick check on the world’s favourite professionals and found that politicians are not among them. Indeed, most of earth’s walkers hate politicians.

    That may be unfair, if not unwise considering the age-old warning that all of us are indeed political animals and that from the house to the neighbourhood clubhouse, the playground, the farmland all the way to the school, the church, the local pub down to the smallest political gathering and from there right up to Aso Rock itself, there is politics aplenty.

    That’s not all. Hated as politicians seem to be, we depend on their decisions on almost everything we care about. They decide which roads to build, for instance, when to build, where to build, and which community to give water and which to deny.

    Bicker and twiddle your fingers all you want or scratch your head interminably, the decision on when to pass the budget, say, or what to knock off it or add, is not yours or mine to take; it is the politicians’, their prerogative.

    Isn’t it about time the world revised its rating of this breed or brood of professionals?

    In these parts we reserve the most uncharitable words for our politicians, though we are less persuaded and forthcoming when it comes to documenting our rating of them against other professionals. Elsewhere, though, in America, say, great trouble is taken to ascertain how much their people love or hate their professionals. In one poll taken back in the year 2006, 63 per cent of 1,020 people said they preferred their firefighters over and above anyone else. Next and roughly in that order, most people surveyed chose doctors, nurses and scientists as closest to their hearts. Military officers also did well in the people’s minds, even first responders in crisis situations (Remember September 11, 2001). So did teachers, specifically mathematicians.

    What about the politicians? They were neither here nor there, hated more than loved, and doing perhaps just a bit better than lawyers, for whom some 21 per cent polled said they had no respect whatsoever.

    In 2011 teachers trumped everyone else followed by medical people such as nurses, even physical therapists. Politicians were overlooked more by design than by oversight.

    This year, it has been suggested than most Americans would first embrace a pilot and then, again, those who help the weak regain their health before considering who next to bestow their love on. No mention was made of those who campaign for votes and then proceed to decide, for good or ill, the fate of their compatriots and their nation.

    Hate or love them, Mr Sylva and Alhaji Kwankwaso, at least once in their political career, did indeed prove they had a mind of their own and were not afraid to declare where they stood on issues or personalities. Several years ago in those unfortunately conspiratorial days of the ailing Umaru Yar’Adua presidency, when the word ‘cabal’ was nearly as frequently used as, if not more so than, the word ‘president’, when the president’s wife, with help from a few hirelings, carried on as though she were the de facto president, Mr Sylva did remind everyone that Dr Goodluck Jonathan, then a much sidestepped vice president, was indeed the right person to take up the office of president. Mr Sylva made his case for Dr Jonathan quite early, if not earlier than anyone else. Before a book presentation event at which I played a minor part, the then governor of Bayelsa State seemed to speak out of conviction and courage and a sense of propriety. What would later become a clamour, even a movement, for the Jonathan presidency against the cabal, had not begun at the time. A Niger Deltan was fit to rule the land, he told everyone.

    At that event, Mr Sylva also revealed something rarely seen in our political class, especially among those who govern us. He spoke of a poem he wrote and then proceeded to read it by heart so effortlessly and so confidently.

    So our governors do read and write?

    I was just as pleasantly surprised at his Mr Sylva’s literary side as I was deeply concerned when he fell out with the same Dr Jonathan he fought for. Such was the disagreement that Mr Sylva would blame his failure to govern his state twice on presidential machinations. Eventually he fell out of the PDP altogether, pitching his tent with the APC on whose platform he contested and lost the December 5 governorship election. Last Saturday Mr Sylva was suspended by the party for, among other alleged infractions, visiting a PDP governor and attempting to form a parallel state executive of the party. The state party chiefs suggested the matter was being investigated and I suggest the investigation should be thorough so that, at least in one instance, it will be determined when a visit to a rival party governor amounts to antiparty activity.

    If the Sylva profile is not a puzzle I don’t know what else is.

    About 16 years ago, Alhaji Kwankwaso, then governor of Kano State, had gained quite a stature in the state and would so build on it that in the run-up to the presidential election he was quite a pillar in the APC house. Such was his relevance that when Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose was firing his ill-advised salvos against Candidate Buhari, it was Alhaji Kwankwaso who seemed to be speaking for the North in defence of not just the APC presidential candidate but also in defence of good old decency and propriety. The result of that election in the North spoke volumes of the efforts and loyalty of people like Alhaji Kwankwaso.

    Today Alhaji Kwankwaso is being accused by no less a person than a former protégé Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of plotting against President Muhammadu Buhari’s political ambitions.

    Is this what is usually referred to as the murky waters of politics, which can mean anything from the more you look the less you see, to you never know with politicians? Did Mr Sylva and Alhaji Kwankwaso show their good sides when they needed to, only to reveal their true colours when they felt the time was ripe? Or is there a rock-solid conspiracy against them?

  • Kano Rep to Ganduje, Kwankwaso: sheathe your sword

    Kano Rep to Ganduje, Kwankwaso: sheathe your sword

    A member of the House of Representatives from Kano State, Abdulmumin Jibrin, has urged Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso to sheathe their swords and toe the path of reconciliation.

    In an open letter addressed to Ganduje and Kwankwaso, Jibrin, who represents the Kiru/Bebeji Federal Constituency, described both as two political leaders who have come a long way and should find solution to their lingering political crisis instead of listening to sycophants who he said were instigating the crisis for selfish interest.

    In the letter copied to the Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, President Muhammadu Buhari, National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, and Chairman, Governors’ Forum, Governor Abdulaziz Yari, Jubrin noted that the recent political feud between the two leaders has affected the wheels of development in the state and called on men of good conscience to intervene and settle the matter.

    Said Jubrin, who is the Chairman, House Committee on Finance: “It is saddening that the crisis comes at a time when both of you have attained the pinnacle of your political careers and at the time both of you are grooming heirs to your robust political dynasty. But even more dismaying is seeing your political offspring, who were best of friends a few months ago, taking sides and quarrelling to crash the political empire you laboured to build for us.

    “My second fear is the domino effect of the crisis, which may spiral to other states, considering the fact that Kano is the nerve centre of the North. This is one reason notable individuals from far and near should intervene. One punchy Hausa proverb cautions that: “Idan gemun dan uwanka ya kama da wuta, shafawa naka ruwa.

    “Having analysed the crisis and made a political SWOT analysis of the situation, it is obvious that none of you stands to benefit from this row. The party will suffer. Both of you will be distracted. The masses will bear the brunt. And political opponents we defeated in the past will avail themselves of our differences to advance their political cause. The lizard finds a space to penetrate through the wall when it finds a crack.

    “It is evident that the crisis has gone out of hand as supporters of either camp have owned up and taken over the crisis, in the process diminishing your capacity to decide on reconciliatory moves.

    “As a solution to the crisis, I suggest that at some points of the reconciliation, your key allies and supporters be involved because of the role they play in starting, fanning and spreading the political inferno.

    “My dear leaders, upon all the political mentoring and the good political values you inculcate in us, what legacy are you now bequeathing to us, your political sons? It certainly shouldn’t be a legacy of division, nor a broken political home.”

    The lawmaker, however, commended the Emir of Kano, President Buhari and seven serving governors who he said have started moves to reconcile Ganduje and Kwankwaso, while insisting that the two leaders reconcile as they stand to benefit nothing from the face-off.

  • No more rift with Kwankwaso, says Kano gov.

    No more rift with Kwankwaso, says Kano gov.

    The leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has stepped into the confrontation between Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State and his former boss, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, over control of the party structure in the state.

    Ganduje  was at the Presidential Villa, Abuja yesterday for a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari. He told reporters at the end of the parley that all was now well between him and the former governor.

    He said: “The situation is under control, it is an in-house problem which is under control. We are talking about it. Yes, reconciliation is ongoing and it will work. We have been together for long. We are politically brothers and friends. Therefore, we will make sure that we don’t allow things to continue to fall apart.

    Their face-off featured all week in the media following Kwankwaso’s visit to Kano last weekend to condole with the governor on the death of his mother. Trouble broke out after the state government alleged that people suspected to be Kwankwaso’s supporters brandished dangerous weapons and harassed innocent  people during Kwankwaso’s visit. The APC leadership in the state also issued a statement strongly condemning Kwankwaso and threatened to suspend him.

    The former governor disowned the thugs and accused the state government of whipping up sentiments against him.

    The State House of Assembly joined the fray by passing a resolution in support of Ganduje as the leader of the APC in the state.

    Asked yesterday whether he would  continue to wear the red cap, which is Kwankwaso’s trademark and mostly worn by his supporters, Ganduje said: “What are you seeing on my head now?”

    He said he was at the Villa to brief President Buhari on the security situation in Kano, especially on cattle rustling and kidnapping, both of which, according to him, are now under control. He explained that the amnesty package extended to those that have decided to turn a new leaf and their empowerment programme were also discussed during the meeting.

  • Ganduje, Kwankwaso: The parting of ways

    Ganduje, Kwankwaso: The parting of ways

    The battle line may have been drawn between Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje and his predecessor, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso. Both leaders are fighting for the control of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Northwest state. Correspondent KOLADE ADEYEMI examines the supremacy battle and its implications for the party and future careers of the two gladiators.

    For a long time, there were insinuations that Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje and his predecessor, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, had parted ways. Recent events have confirmed that the two leaders ceased to be the best of friends, following the change of baton in the state.

    On May 29, last year, Kwankwaso handed over to Ganduje, his former deputy. The governor served twice under his former boss as deputy governor between 1999 and 2003 and 2011 and 2015. Although Ganduje was interested in the driver’s seat, he was persuaded to step down for Kwankwaso.

    In 2003, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau of the defunct All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) scuttled the Kwankwaso/Ganduje second term ambition. In defeat, Kwankwaso and Ganduje remained political soul mates. When Kwankwso was appointed Minister of Defence by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Ganduje served as Kwankwaso’s Special Adviser. Although Ganduje challenged Kwankwaso in 2007 when he imposed Ahmed Garba Bichi as the flag-bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against the wishes of many party chieftains and elders, they later closed ranks. Shekarau defeated Bichi. But, in 2011, Kwankwaso and Ganduje returned to the State House.

    Ahead of last year’s election, Ganduje unfolded his ambition to succeed Kwankwaso. To his consternation, the former governor was reluctant to endorse his bid. A seasoned politician, Ganduje moved fast. He approached party stakeholders for help and got their endorsement. Kwankwaso concentrated on his ambition to clinch the presidential ticket of the All Progressive Party (APC). When he failed at the primary, he contested and won the Kano Central senatorial seat.

    Governor Ganduje inherited a debt of N400 billion. He grumbled that his former boss left a huge debt burden. Observers were taken aback because Ganduje was part of the preceding administration.

    The bubble burst during Kwankwaso’s visit to Kano on March 7 to condole with Ganduje over the death of his mother, Hajiya Fatima Umar Ganduje. Kwankwaso went to Ganduje, the governor’s  hometown where he turned the condolence visit into a political rally to unfold his 2019 presidential ambition.

    The move elicited condemnation by the party chairman, Alhaji Haruna Umar Doguwa, and Alhaji Audu Kirare, the acting chairman of the Elders Committee. They alleged that Kwankwaso hired a crowd to sing his praise.  Doguwa said: “They climbed over the fence, breaking the iron barriers and destroying the security scanners at Malam Aminu Kano International Airport. Also, the thugs were busy distributing presidential campaign posters, car stickers reading ‘Kwankwasiyya 2019, Engr. Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaspo for President, Federal Republic of Nigeria.” In his view, the senator was involved in anti-party activities.

    The party chairman added: “The Kano state APC Executive Committee and Elders hereby condemn the character and texture of the Kwankwaso condolence visit and its portent objective as a launch pad of his Presidential ambition campaign which was wholly unfounded. We wish to state categorically that there is no presidential vacancy in the first place. Our loyalty and commitment is to our able President Muhammadu Buhari and his policies and programmes.

    “What specifically made the visit a misdemeanour to our party’s spirit of discipline and brotherhood, was the fact that the visit was purely political as against the mission of condolence. We wish to unequivocally state that the leadership of APC in Kano was not officially informed about the intention of the Senator to pay a condolence visit to the bereaved Governor Ganduje let alone the display of seemingly presidential campaign slogans and chanting of hatred and vulgar vituperations against Governor Ganduje organized and executed during the visit.

    “We want to categorically reinstate here that the state party leadership has not in any way be part of this unfortunate political misconduct, will not support it and will not condone it. The act of thuggery and brazen show of daggers, swords and other forms of weapons by sponsored and hired hoodlums was totally unwholesome, abhorable, condemnable by all our teeming loyal party members. We also want to state categorically that the party and leadership hierarchy as enshrined in the APC constitution must be respected by all party members irrespective of their concerted arrogance. The APC leader in Kano State is the Governor Aabdullahi Umar Ganduje, whose leadership of the state and the party must be jealously guarded by all well meaning members of the party.

    “The party will leave no stone unturned in ensuring discipline, orderliness and loyalty as prescribed by the constitution of the party. We hereby call on all party members in the state to remain calm and resolute in their unity and tolerance and also shun being used by disgruntled elements to achieve their self-serving motives.”

    However, Kwankwaso urged Ganduje to desist from fanning the embers of division in the APC. He said the governor should concentrate on giving the people of Kano dividends of democracy. Kwankwaso, who spoke through his former Commissioner for Water Resources, Dr. Yunusa Adam Dangwani, advised Ganduje to stick to the tenets of the APC and stop using the name of President Muhammadu Buhari to cover the weaknesses of his administration.

    He said: “It is apt at this juncture to call on the Kano State Government to desist from dragging the name of President Muhammadu Bbuhari to cover for their administration’s obvious weaknesses.

    “We urge you to rather strive to concentrate on facing the enormous challenges of governance such that perhaps, he may also be revered and respected by the good people of Kano state. It is therefore appalling and rather unfortunate that the good gesture of Senator Kwankwaso has been mischievously interpreted wrongly.  Against this backdrop, at Ganduje town, we were surprised that some local people brandished local weapons, not minding the sober occasion. It is unfortunate that they could not be chided. Thus, we left them with their weapons at Ganduje.”

    The war between the two leaders took a frightening dimension last weekend Doguwa raised the alarm that he was made to sign the press statement credited to him under duress by the state government. He denied accusing Kwankwaso of sponsoring thugs during his condolence visit.

    Doguwa said: “The previous press statement read and signed by me was not written by my humble self; neither did I participate in the drafting, but rather, I was coerced to sign under duress and under the close marking by the state apparatus. What makes it more curious for me to recant this is the fact that the Elders Committee is not part of the party executive, hence, procedurally, we cannot issue a joint statement. I, therefore, consider this as an oversight on the part of the party to issue such statement.”

    According to him, the state government “has confused purely social event with politics.” “The visit by the former Governor, Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso to fraternise and condole his former Deputy and now the executive Governor of our great state has been politicized out of proportion.”

    Doguwa added: “We have observed this with concern and that this action is capable of pitching our members against one another.” Doguwa noted that other politicians, including those from the opposition parties who came to the venue of the condolence, even though, with handful of followers exhibited similar activities which Senator Kwankwaso is accused of.  In order to forestall unpleasant consequences on the party and its teeming supporters, I find it necessary to profusely apologize on the statement earlier issued and hereby withdraw that statement.

    “The said press statement, which I hereby disassociate myself from, is indeed, a product of warped and mischievous elements, whose stance and antics are causing confusion and disunity among the rank and file of our great party and the administration of Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje are known to all and sundry.”

    The romance between Ganduje and Kwankwso may have crashed, following the contentious development. Supporters of both leaders are flying the kites, a situation capable of killing the philosophy of the Kwankwasiyya Movement. In fact, it was gathered that supporters of Ganduje have advised him to discard the red cap symbol and create another colour that will represent and reflect the political ideology of the Gandujiyya Political Movement.