The immediate former governor of Kano state, who is presently a senator, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has reacted to the move to suspend him by the Kano state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for allegedly staging a violent rally.
Chairman of the Kano APC chapter, Umar Doguwa, had on Thursday addressed a news conference accusing Senator Kwankwaso of indiscipline following the manner he allegedly turned his condolence visit to Governor Abdullahi Ganduje into a violent rally. The party leadership threatened to constitute a disciplinary committee to investigate Kwankwaso’s involvement and to punish him accordingly.
However, in a statement issued on Friday, Mr. Kwankwaso denied the allegations. According to him, since he left office, he had decided to give his successor “space and time to settle down and consolidate on governance without interference.
According to the statement, signed by Kwankwaso’s aide, Yunusa Dangwani, both Kwankwaso and Ganduje had enjoyed close affinity being that Gadnuje was his former deputy for eight years and also his former Special Adviser when Mr. Kwankwaso served as Minister of Defence. The statement added that their relationship made Kwankwaso decide to visit the governor to commiserate with him following the death of his , adding that he, “deliberately gave short notice for the condolence visit”.
According to the statement, the former governor was “pleasantly surprised by the turnout of the good people of Kano who came to receive him at the Malam Aminu Kano Airport and escorted him to Ganduje village”.
It added that by the time Mr. Kwankwaso’s convoy arrived Ganduje town, they were surprised “that some local people brandished local weapons, not minding the somber occasion. It is unfortunate that they could not be chided, thus we left them with their weapons at Ganduje”.
“It is therefore appalling and rather unfortunate that the good gesture of Sen. Kwankwaso has been mischievously interpreted wrongly.
“It is also disheartening that few hours after the death of our state Deputy Chairman Alhaji Isa Ali Danmaraya the government was busy coercing and misleading some party leadership into addressing a press conference that will only culminate in splitting the APC in Kano,” the statement said.
The statement further warned Mr. Ganduje to desist from dragging the name of President Muhammadu Buhari to cover for his administration’s “obvious weaknesses”.
