The Kano State Police Command, has advised Sen. Rabi’u Kwankwaso to suspend his proposed visit to Kano State on Jan. 30.
The State Commissioner of Police, Mr Rabiu Yusuf, gave the advice while briefing newsmen in Kano, on Friday.
He said, the advice was necessary in view of the tension generated by the planned visit, among the people of the state.
According toYusuf, “There is no doubt, the Senator as a citizen of this country has the constitutional right of association, assembly, and above all, movement.
“However, credible Information at the disposal of the command reveals that the proposed visit has generated palpable fears in the minds of the people of Kano State’’, he said.
He said, there was apprehension among the general populace, including the tendency to hijack the visit by some disgruntled elements and miscreants.
He hinted on the urgent need by the police command to ensure that peace prevailed in the state.]
“Therefore, any action or inaction by any person or group of persons that may jeopardize the relative peace the state is currently enjoying must be averted.
“It is the advice of the command that such a visit should be shelved by Sen Rabi’u Kwankwaso, until the tension generated by the planned visit is doused,’’ he reiterated.
He assured that, the command would provide a level playing ground for all politicians, to carry out their political activities, without fear of molestation or intimidation.
The Kano State Government said on Monday that it had destroyed illicit drugs worth N4.1 billion confiscated in the state this year.
Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje who revealed this at the Senate Roundtable on Drug Abuse Epidemic held in Kano, said this was part of the renewed fight against drug abuse in the state.
The event was organised by the Senate as a way of finding lasting solution to the hard drug crisis in the country.
Ganduje, who was represented by his deputy, Prof Hafiz Abubakar, said the drugs were confiscated in different parts of the state after being imported by unpatriotic medicine dealers.
He disclosed that the state government had also confiscated another consignment of illicit drugs worth N1 billion which would soon be destroyed.
The governor said the menace of hard drugs in the state was beyond the capacity of the state government to contain.
“The fight against drug abuse is an issue that requires active Federal Government’s intervention as it is beyond the capacity of the state government,” he said.
He said as part of its efforts to tackle the problem, the state government had set up a task force to deal with it, pointing out that the committee was doing its best.
“Even in 2012 during the administration of former Governor, Rabi’u Kwankwaso, a task force was set up for it and was given all the necessary support to work.
“But as I said, the fight is far beyond the capacity of the state government. There is need for all stakeholders to join hands together to fight the menace,” he said.
According to him, the state government had recently expanded the rehabilitation center for the victims of drug abuse in the state.
He commended the Senate for initiating the roundtable and expressed hope that it would go a long way in addressing the problem.
He also lauded the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, for choosing Kano as the venue for the event, in view of the relevance of the state to the issue at stake.
Various stakeholders from across the country attended the roundtable.
The Board of Trustees of Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ) has called on aggrieved members who left the party to follow the footsteps of former Vice President Abubakar Atiku “and return home.”
The Chairman of the board, Sen. Walid Jibrin, made the call while briefing journalists on Wednesday in Abuja.
He said “as the party joyfully welcomes Atiku back to his home PDP, we are equally waiting to receive more members.
“We are waiting for the President of the Senate, Sen. Bukola Saraki, Sen. Rabiu Kwankwaso, other senators, members of House of Representatives and APC governors who left the PDP.
“Let all of us unite and take back power from APC come 2019.”
Ahead of the December 9 PDP Convention, Jibrin urged aspirants to develop the spirit of sportsmanship.
He urged aspirants to accept the verdict of delegates, cooperate with the winners and remain loyal to the party as power comes from God.
Jibrin said the BoT had not anointed any contestant, saying the board was ready to work with whoever emerged victorious.
“I want to assure our party members that whoever emerges as National Chairman, the BoT is ready to cooperate and work with him or her for the progress of the party.
“I will like to reiterate our position that the BoT has not anointed any candidates for now,” he said.
He commended the Judiciary for saving Nigeria’s democracy by putting and end to the crisis in the party.
Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje has warned the new Interim Management Officer’s for the 44 Local Government’s in the state against corruption and laxity to duty.
At the swearing-in ceremony on Monday night, Ganduje said that his administration would continue to give priority to service to the people.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the swearing in followed the confirmation of the officers by the State House of Assembly.
Ganduje urged the new appointees to perform their duties with diligence, honesty and fear of God, adding that they should as initiate developmental programmes in their areas.
He also urged them to be transparent and prudent in their dealings in order to achieve the noble objective of the the APC government in the state and the country as a whole.
“Your appointment today as Sole Administrators should therefore be seen as a call to service of our people. You are more close to the grassroots and a lot of expectations falls on you. You can be rest assured of our continued support,” he said.
According to Ganduje, the officers and their six Councillors would hold office for not more than six months before handing over to democratically elected chairmen.
NAN reports that the 44 Local Government chairmen elected during the tenure of Sen. Rabiu Kwankwaso completed their tenure on May 28, 2017.
The Kano State Government has requested 100 children orphaned by the Boko Haram insurgency from Borno State Government for enrollment into the special boarding primary school established for them in the state.
Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje disclosed this when he received the Federal Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, Hajiya Sadiya Umar-Farouq, who paid him a courtesy visit at the Government House, Kano on Monday.
NAN reports that the special boarding primary school was established by the immediate past governor of the state , Mr Rabi’u Kwankwaso, to cater for the children orphaned by insurgency, especially, from the North-Eastern part of the country.
NAN also reports that most of the children currently in the school are from Borno.
Ganduje said the state government had requested Borno State Government to bring another set of 100 children who would be enrolled in the school this academic session.
According to him, the state government will take care of the children up to the university level.
“The school is a full-fledged boarding primary school established by the state government for children orphaned by the insurgency, “he said.
He said the school, which is fully equipped, would continue to provide quality education to the affected children as most of them had lost their parents and relations and had nowhere to go to as their home.
He said the state government had received no less than 1, 000 refugees from the Central African Republic (CAR) at the initial stage of the crisis in the country.
He said the state government had to set up a team that screened them and later returned them to their respective areas.
He commended the commission for the bold steps it had taken to alleviate the hardships of the IDPs by providing them with some relief materials.
In her remarks, the NCFRMI Federal Commissioner, Hajiya Sadiya Umar-Farouq, said the commission would partner the state government to rehabilitate and integrate the returnees and IDPs.
“We want to strengthen our relationship with the Kano State Government through partnership to enable us achieve our mandate.”
She called on the state government to assist the returnees and IDPs by providing them with farmlands to enable them engage in farming activities for self-sustenance
Sen. Rabiu Kwankwaso,(APC- Kano Central) on Tuesday said there would be no reprisal attacks against the Yoruba living in the North following the crisis in Ile-Ife on March 8.
Kwankwaso said this in Sabo area of Ile-Ife after meeting with members of the Hausa community inside a mosque.
The former Kano State governor, who was in company with Gov. Rauf Aregbesola and Sen. Babajide Omoworare (APC-Osun East), told journalists that he was in Osun to promote peace and the rule of law.
According to him, the Kwankwasiya Foundation will offer the victims of the crisis succour as from next week.
He urged members of the Hausa community to resist the temptation to take laws into their hands and further breach the peace gradually returning to the affected area.
Also speaking, Gov. Rauf Aregbesola stressed the significance of peaceful co-existence in spite of the activities of the hoodlums which led to the incident.
He said security agencies had arrested some suspects in connection with the crisis, adding that the perpetrators would face the full wrath of the law.
Aregbesola further said that the state government would help set up a Peace and Reconciliation Committee with a view to finding a permanent solution to the crisis.
Receiving Kwankwaso on behalf of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, the Obalufe of Ife kingdom, Idowu Adediwura, recalled that Hausa had been living in Ife since 1894 without any fear of molestation.
He attributed the incident to the activities of miscreants, saying Ife had been generally peaceful.
The traditional ruler commended the efforts made by Kwankwanso toward resolving the crisis while appealing to security agents to handle the issue with fairness and objectivity.
“We are creatures of Almighty God, hence we are all citizens of the world and we abhor bloodletting in all its ramifications, ” he stated.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and its state’s counterpart had distributed some relief materials to the victims of the communal clash.
Former Governor of Kano state and Senator representing Kano Central district, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso; and the Seriki Hausa Community in Ife on Tuesday said reports of the evacuation of Hausa men from Ile Ife after last week’s clash are targeted at further escalating a breach that has already been quenched.
Both Kwankwaso and the Governor of Osun Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola cautioned the media against reports that could jeopardise the peace of the country.
Kwankwaso described as mere rumours report that Hausa people in Ife have been migrating from the state up North.
He said commentators should be careful with reports on both the conventional and social media so as not spark another trend of a crisis in other parts of the country.
The senator stated this during a condolence visit he paid to Governor of Osun at the government house Osogbo.
Senator Kwankwaso who stressed that the kind of reports being disseminated by the media may aggravate the crisis commended the efforts of the Osun Governor in arresting the ugly incident.
“I want to appeal to our media men and women to be mindful of how they report the crisis so that it won’t lead to a reprisal attack in other parts of the country.
“We should be mindful of what we write and use on our conventional media and the social media as well, we need some sense of responsibility from our media houses.
[quote]”We are not saying you should not do your job, but you should know that you also have a responsibility of maintaining peace in our society,” – Kwankwaso [/quote]
Senator Kwankwaso
He pointed out that as soon as he got wind of the crisis he put a call through to Aregbesola and the peace moves taken by the governor has been corroborated by the Arewa community in Ife.
While urging members of the Hausa community in Ife and other parts of Osun to allow peace to reign, Senator Kwankwaso said they should be reminded that wherever they live is their home and everything possible must be done to embrace peace.
The senator who thanked the state government of Osun and the National Emergency Management Agency of Nigeria (NEMA) for trying to make life bearable for those affected through the provision of relief materials promised that his foundation will follow suit as soon as possible.
According to him, “As soon as I got to know about the crisis, I put a call through to my brother, Ogbeni Aregbesola who promised me on the phone that he was already on top of the situation.
“I am happy that when I got here, members of the Arewa community corroborated what he told me on efforts at ensuring the safety of my people.
“I am using this opportunity to appeal to the Hausa community in Ife and around Osun to embrace peace and continue to live together in unity with their Yoruba hosts.
“Wherever you find yourself is your home and you should ensure it is peaceful.
“I thank the governor and NEMA for providing relief materials to those affected and I also promise to bring more through my foundation,” the Senator said.
On the entourage of the Senator are members of national Assembly and leaders of the Arewa community in Osun.
Meanwhile, Senator Kwankwaso was accompanied by Governor Aregbesola to the scene of the crisis in Ile-Ife for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation.
Aregbesola also disclosed that more than twenty people who were said to have participated in the crisis have been arrested and will be made to face the law.
He said that what happened was just accidental as people of Osun are peace loving and accommodating.
He noted that Yoruba people may fight one another but they are always protective of and friendly with their visitors. He buttressed his point with the Ife/Modakeke crisis which he said never touched the Hausa community.
According to him Yoruba and Hausa did not engage in any fight but the crisis was caused by miscreants from both sides of the divide.
“What caused the crisis was a minor disagreement. We are afraid that those who want to cause chaos in the country might be behind this crisis
“Yoruba may fight one another but they will not fight with their visitors. We are very peaceful and if you look around you will find out that enemies of peace are at work and they are few.
“And we don’t know what their aim or interest was in causing this crisis. Perhaps they were sponsored because I have never heard that Yoruba and Hausa fought each other in Ife before but there might be misunderstanding and it would not be more than that.
“God has created and put us together in Nigeria. We must, therefore, live together in harmony. We should not allow agent of division to cause disaffection among us,” Aregbesola said
Aregbesola also commended all security agencies for their swift response to a distress call.
He averred that but for the quick response of security agencies the crisis would have snowballed into terrible level better imagined.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) said on Friday night that it did not summon former Governor of Kano State, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, neither was he subjected to any grilling by the party’s National Working Committee (NWC).
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the APC said the visit of the former governor to the national secretariat was a private visit to the party National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and not to answer any call by the NWC.
The statement reads: “The attention of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been drawn to reports in a section of the media which states that the NWC ‘grilled’ Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, the former Governor of Kano State.
“In the said reports, the purported meeting with the NWC provided Senator Kwankwaso the opportunity to explain his point of view on the alleged crisis between him and the Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje.
“We wish to state that the reports are not true. While it is correct that Senator Kwankwaso visited our party’s National Secretariat in Abuja on Thursday, January 12, 2017, but this was a private visit to the National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and not a meeting of the NWC. The NWC has not held any meeting this year and so the issue of ‘grilling’ Senator Kwankwaso does not arise.
“It is not unusual for our party men and women to visit the National Chairman and indeed other officials of the NWC. This should not be considered as a meeting of the NWC.
“Finally, we urge reporters to be more circumspect and to cross-check facts with the publicity department if they have any doubt.”
The controversial National Grazing Reserve Agency Bill pending in the House of Representatives landed in Senate with a bang on Wednesday.
Another bill likely to provoke controversy, the National Ranches Commission Bill, was also introduced in the Senate same day.
Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano Central) and others are listed as sponsors of the National Grazing Reserve Agency Bill entitled: “National Grazing Reserves Agency (establishment etc) Bill 2016 (SB.292.”
Senator Barnabas Gemade (Benue North East) sponsored the National Ranches Commission (establishment etc) Bill 2016 (SB 293).
Both bills passed the mandatory first reading on Wednesday.
Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah (Kebbi South), who read the bills said, “do we take it that the bills have passed second reading?
The Senate chamber erupted with a deafening “No, not at all.”
The National Grazing Reserve Agency Bill pending in the House of Representatives has been roundly criticized as a ploy by the Federal Government to grab and seize land from their original owner to be given to cattle herders.
The same Bill sponsored by Senator Zanaib Kure from Niger State failed to fly in the sixth Senate when it was introduced.
At a recent public hearing in the Senate on the clashes between farmers and herdsmen, the federal government, represented by Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, canvassed for the establishment of ranches.
The leaders of the herdsmen, under the aegis of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria stoutly opposed the establishment of ranches.
They insisted on creation of grazing reserves in parts of the country as the only solution to farmers and herdsmen clashes.
The introduction of money politics by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to win the forthcoming elections by all means is very harmful to the nation’s democracy, Kano State governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, has said.
Kwankwaso spoke yesterday at his senatorial campaigns in Gezewa and Minjibir local government areas.
He lamented that President Goodluck Jonathan and his cohorts have looted the country’s treasury to buy voter cards and tinker with the elections.
The governor alleged Vice President Namadi Sambo was in the state last week to influence the electorate with money.
He pointed out that despite financial enticement, Kano indigenes are politically sensible and looking for genuine change which only the All Progressives Congress (APC) can provide.
The governor added that people are tired of the misrule of the PDP government, expressing confidence that the electorate in Kano would massively vote for the APC.
