Ganduje: I resisted Kwankwaso’s bid to dictate to me

Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje  yesterday  said his problem with his predecessor, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, was his resistance against external manipulation.

According to him, he will not succumb to such manipulation.

The governor spoke with State House correspondents at the end of the high table dialogue on ethical values and national security at the Old Banquet Hall, Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Ganduje, who has been having a running battle with Kwankwaso, claimed that the face-off resulted from Kwankwaso’s attempt to decide what happens in the state.

He said: “Well, we conducted local government elections precisely on Saturday 10th February and it was very peaceful. Independent observers were there. The result was a 100 per cent APC.

”The election was free and fair. So you can see that the insecurity was publicised outside Kano. People believe here that there is insecurity but in Kano, there is peace and stability.

”A month ago, we had inter faith dialogue between Christians and Muslims and the Ulamas and the clergymen were all there. We had a resolution pertaining to the peace and stability in the state.

”And since I came into office, there has not been any outbreak of instability in the state; nobody has been killed, nobody has been injured as a result of political activities.

”So you can see that the propaganda outside the state is that there is insecurity in the state; practically, we have been showing that it is false.”

On his relationship with Kwankwaso, Ganduje  said: “Well, as you know, we were very good friends. In fact, my politics cannot be complete without Kwankwaso and the history of Kwankwaso politics cannot be complete without me.

”But, somewhere somehow, things went wrong. But, we believe in politics, you will get to a point you cannot rule and manage a state and then you are being controlled from outside; you know that one is very very difficult to happen if you look at the psychology of leaders.”

He also said the alleged under age voting in the just concluded local government elections was a mere propaganda.

Stressing that the images of the kids that had gone viral on social media were not true, Ganduje said the election had been certified credible, free and fair by national observers.

He said: “That was propaganda. You can ask the national observers who went there, they held a press conference. All those pictures were children from school assembly. It is not true, it is part of the propaganda. Let them go back to the state and ask the people; did they queue up and vote in the election?

”So, we don’t even need to respond to such falsehood. Ask those who are credible and who witnessed the election. I think that is the most important, rather than rely on the social media where things are crafted, and take pictures that were prearranged.”

Bauchi State Governor Muhammed Abubarkar said if the country should practise federalism as enshrined in the nation’s constitution, there should be state police to curb security challenges.

Backing state police, Abubakar said it engenders true federalism.

His words: “Well, the nation is a federation. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provides for a federal system and in federal system, the federating units are all independent in their own sphere of influence.

”We copied the Constitution from the American Constitution and if you go to America you discover that there is County Police, there is State Police and then Federal Police.

”If we are going to engender true federalism, that is probably the beginning.”

On the fears that governors might abuse state police, the governor said there will always be fears when a new policy was to be put in place.

He said: “There will always be fears but we should not think in terms of individuals in Nigeria; that is our bane. We should think in terms of developing institutions. When we develop institutions and the plain truth, they take care of the indiscretions of individuals.”

On the reason for the meeting, he said: “We came for a dialogue on ethics and integrity of service and the launching of a compendium on the life and times of Mr. President and the service he has rendered to the nation, from the time he joined the army to date.

“This compendium was conceived well before the consideration for 2019 elections. It is a factual compendium, not politics. The dialogue is the first thing in addressing the problems of the nation, the need for us to forge unity, to consider the challenges affecting the nation without unnecessarily overheating the nation.”

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