- NWC reports NNPP, rebels to IGP
- Says Ganduje remains APC national chairman
- APC chieftain begs Tinubu to intervene in feud
- Kano files more charges as Ganduje, wife, six others appear in court today
The National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress has moved to save its national chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje from the political impasse between him and the leader of the New Nigeria People’s Party, Rabiu Kwankwaso.
Ganduje has been enmeshed in a battle to salvage his job following a ploy to suspend him at his ward in Kano State.
Both Ganduje and Kwankwaso, two former Kano governors, were allies before they fell out a few years ago over political differences in the state.
Consequently, the APC National Working Committee declared on Tuesday that Ganduje remains the national chairman of the governing party.
The party’s highest administrative organ, the NWC dismissed the purported suspension of Ganduje as fake news.
A statement by the APC national publicity secretary, Felix Morka, in Abuja on Tuesday, alleged that the purported suspension was procured by devious officials of the ruling New Nigeria Peoples Party in Kano.
Irked by the development, the party has petitioned the Inspector General of Police demanding an investigation into the purported suspension.
The statement read, “The attention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been drawn to media reports of the purported suspension of the National Chairman, HE Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, CON, from the party by the Executive Committee of the Ganduje Ward in the Dawakin Tofa local government area of Kano State.
“The purported suspension was the devious act of a group of impersonators of Ward officials out to cause mischief and create confusion in the otherwise peaceful Ganduje Ward chapter of our Party.
“The perpetrators of this criminal act are not card-carrying members of APC in the Ward but are individuals affiliated with senior officials and representatives of the New Nigeria People Party (NNPP).
“This act procured by officials of the ruling NNPP in Kano is part of the despicable programme of political persecution launched by the administration of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf against Ganduje, a former Governor of Kano State.
“The purported suspension is downright criminal, and of no effect whatsoever. The legitimate Executive Committee of the Ganduje Ward has since denounced the action and reaffirmed Dr. Ganduje as a bona fide member of the party in the Ward, and in good standing.”
Determined to unearth the mastermind behind the suspension, Morka said, “The Party has filed a petition with the Inspector General of Police requesting an expedited investigation of this matter and that the perpetrators and their sponsors be brought to justice.”
He then urged party faithful and the general public to disregard reports of the suspension of the national chairman “who is and remains, the national chairman of our great Party.”
APC chieftain begs Tinubu to intervene in feud
In a related development, a former National Vice Chairman (North West) of the APC, Salihu Lukman, has called on President Bola Tinubu to intervene in the political impasse between Kwankwaso and Ganduje.
Lukman made the appeal in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday.
He also urged the president to look beyond the $413,000 and N1.38bn bribery charges filed against the APC national chairman by the Kano State government.
On Monday, the media was awash with the suspension of Ganduje by the Legal Adviser of his ward in the Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area of Kano, Halliru Gwanzo.
Gwanzo said the APC ward leadership took the decision given the bribery allegations hanging on Ganduje’s neck.
In a swift reaction, the National Working Committee of the ruling party and the Kano State chapter of the party faulted and voided the suspension, saying Gwanzo and the indicted party leaders involved don’t have the locus standi to impeach the national chairman.
The ruling party also fingered the NNPP-led government in Kano State as being behind the move.
But Lukman insisted that the President and top APC stakeholders must act fast to broker peace between Ganduje and Kwankwaso if they hope to retain their grip on Kano and, by extension, the entire North, even if it involves negotiating an alliance.
He said, “Being progressives requires honesty, and given the current political reality, we must accept that Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso and his NNPP have a stronger support base in Kano State. And that Kwankwaso was in our party up to 2018. Also between 1999 and 2019, both worked together, and we need to revisit issues surrounding their disagreement.
“On no account should APC leaders limit the engagement of issues surrounding all the political challenges facing us as a party to only the issue of bribery allegations against Ganduje.
“If this means another round of negotiation for political alliance or a merger with Kwankwaso and NNPP, our leaders should proceed to act accordingly. President Tinubu and the APC must take full advantage of the current reality to renegotiate the support base of the APC.
“Without a doubt, this situation presents an opportunity for President Tinubu to demonstrate his progressive and political dexterity. It is a low-hanging fruit, which, if properly managed, could also save the politics of Dr. Ganduje.
“The hard truth is that, somehow, the politics of Kano State was mismanaged, and as it is, if we were unable to win the election in Kano State when we were in control of the Kano State Government, it would be foolhardy to imagine otherwise.”
Kano files more charges as Ganduje, wife, six others appear in court today
Meanwhile, the Kano High Court is expected to arraign Ganduje today on charges bordering on allegations of bribery, diversion, and misappropriation of funds, including the purported acceptance of $413,000 and N1.38bn in bribes.
The Kano State Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Haruna Dederi, had said Ganduje would be arraigned alongside his wife and six others.
The Yusuf administration, which initiated the criminal suit against the eight respondents, had declared its readiness to present 15 witnesses to testify before Justice Usman Na’aba of State High Court.
The accused individuals, as listed in the writ of summon, include Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, Hafsat Umar, Abubakar Bawuro, Umar Abdullahi Umar, Jibrilla Muhammad, Lamash Properties Ltd, Safari Textiles Ltd, and Lesage General Enterprises.
The Kano State Anti-Corruption and Public Complaints Commission also said that it has filed fresh charges of corruption and maladministration against Ganduje.
“What is happening now is a tip of the iceberg,” the chairman of the anti-graft commission, Muhuyi Magaji, said on a live television programme on Tuesday.
“As I am talking to you, we are investigating a case whereby N51.3bn local government funds were directly taken from the government coffers (and) sent to other individuals, and we traced it to people.”
Magaji alleged that the Ganduje government took N1bn from the state coffers a month to the expiration of the administration’s tenure in May 2023 but the money was sent to Bureau de Change operators and not used for road renovation as earmarked.
“We have filed a series of cases. We have a case whereby N1bn in April last year (2023) was removed from government coffers under the allocation of renovating 30 roads in the metropolis and it was taken away, sent to Bureau de Change.
“We have a case of N4bn whereby it was sent from the consolidated revenue account of Kano State to an agricultural company. All these cases are before the court,” he said.
The Kano anti-graft chairman, who said he was being viewed as a “stubborn person” in some quarters, insisted that the court ruled that money laundering was a federal offence but the commission has the right to probe alleged corruption and maladministration by the Ganduje administration.
Magaji said though he was appointed by Ganduje to head the agency, he won’t hesitate to prosecute alleged corruption by the immediate-past administration in the state.
He said, “Incidentally, His Excellency, the former governor was the one that appointed me in 2015 to head the agency and I was re-appointed in 2020 for another five-year term. Basically, we have an institution in the Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission that is devoid of political activities and dedicated to fight corruption, check maladministration and fight injustice.”
Magaji said he started investigating the administration of Ganduje when he was Kano governor.
He said there should be no sacred cows in the anti-corruption fight in the state.
“That is the beauty of what we are doing. In Nigeria, we are not supposed to have those that will be shielded. Even, we are in the anti-corruption agency, our integrity has been tested. And that is how it is supposed to be. Anybody that is charged before the court of law let him go and answer.”
