The Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, has responded to his predecessor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, maintaining that Ganduje’s eight-year tenure in the state was a significant failure.
Yusuf, in his rebuttal to Ganduje’s earlier criticism accusing him of poor performance, emphasized that during Ganduje’s time, Kano witnessed widespread corruption, misappropriation of public funds, and the sale of government assets.
In a statement released on Sunday and signed by his spokesperson, Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, Yusuf expressed regret that Ganduje chose to comment on a supposed failure in his administration instead of addressing the corruption and political violence allegations against him.
Yusuf criticized Ganduje’s two terms as unproductive, marked by embezzlement of public resources, neglect of the people’s needs, favoritism, and violence that caused harm to many families.
Yusuf boldly claimed that his eight months in office have overshadowed Ganduje’s eight years of political incompetence and mismanagement.
“Our eight months in office have remarkably outweighed Ganduje’s eight wasted years of political caricature and maladministration by all standards,” Yusuf claimed.
He urged Ganduje to focus on defending himself against the corruption charges instead of further damaging his reputation through media engagements.
The statement highlighted the disgrace brought upon the people of Kano by Ganduje’s corruption scandals and stressed that media campaigns would not impede the legal process against him.
Yusuf referenced the infamous video clip allegedly showing Ganduje pocketing dollars, emphasizing the need for accountability and justice.
The administration reaffirmed its commitment to holding anyone guilty of corruption accountable and pledged to pursue the “Gandollar saga” to its conclusion.
“We wish to reaffirm the present administration’s resolve and readiness to make anyone found guilty of corruption to face the full wrath of the law for their intentional wrongdoings.”
Yusuf called for the release of the forensic investigation conducted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) regarding the alleged corruption scandal in 2018.
Regarding allegations of poor governance despite increased federal allocation, Governor Yusuf revealed the ongoing struggle to recover from the financial distress caused by Ganduje’s administration.
He cautioned Ganduje against implicating President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in his corruption scandal, asserting that President Tinubu respects the independence of the judiciary, as evidenced by legal challenges faced by opposition parties.
“We wish to categorically warn Ganduje to stop dragging the name of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu into his corruption saga, as we believe that our able and well-respected President does not interfere into cases before the courts of competent jurisdiction, as we witnessed during our trying times at the Supreme Court when he allowed justice to prevail for the opposition parties.”
