Connect with us

Featured

Ex-Kano Deputy Gov, Others Return to APC

Published

on

A former Kano State Deputy Governor, Hafizu Abubakar, has returned to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Mr Abubakar, a former staunch ally of the ex-Kano State governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, left the ruling party in August and resigned his position as deputy to the current governor, Abdullahi Ganduje.

After leaving the APC, he joined Mr Kwankwaso in the Peoples Democratic Party. He, however, later defected to the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) when he could not get the PDP governorship ticket in Kano.

Mr Abubakar’s return to the APC was confirmed by his spokesperson and the presidency.

Garba Shehu, the spokesperson to President Muhammadu Buhari, said the president had a meeting with Mr Abubakar and other former Kwankwaso loyalists in Kano.

Mr Shehu, according to Premium Times report, said the meeting held on Wednesday night in Abuja.

He said the president appealed to stakeholders in the APC all over the country to work for genuine reconciliation “for the benefit of our people and our nation.”

In welcoming the party leaders back to the APC, Mr Buhari said the house was large enough to accommodate everyone and promised to speak to the leadership of the party and government in Kano to accommodate and work with the returnees.

“In addition to Professor Hafiz, a staunch ally of Sen. Rabiu Kwankwaso who resigned as Governor Abdullahi Ganduje’s Deputy, the other returnees include a former Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Architect Aminu Dabo; the immediate past National Treasurer, Bala Mohammed Gwagwarwa; Security Adviser to Kwankwaso, General Danjuma Dambazau (rtd); Engineer Mu’azu Magaji, all of them staunch members of the Kwankwasiyya as well as Senator Isa Zarewa who left in protest against the last primaries.

“They were led to the President by the Governor of Jigawa State, Abubakar Badaru,” Mr Shehu said.

Responding to the presidential directive, Governor Ganduje reportedly welcomed the return of the party stalwarts and assured the president that he was ready to work with everyone to record yet another historic victory in the general elections.

The media aide to Mr Abubakar, Abdulwahab Sa’id, provided more details of the meeting to PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday.

“President Muhammad Buhari sent a private jet to Kano yesterday night (Wednesday) to convey Professor Hafiz Abubakar, Former National treasurer of APC Bala Gwagwarwa, former Managing Director Nigeria Ports Authority Aminu Dabo, and former Senior Special Assistant to President Jonathan on SURE-P Engineer Mu’azu Magaji Dan Sarauniya to Presidential Villa for a private meeting.

“The president has appreciated their contribution towards his election in 2015 and pleaded to them to return to APC and work toward his re-election in 2019,” Mr Said.

He said Mr Buhari will formally accept all the returnees at a rally in Kano soon.

On whether Mr Abubakar will work with Governor Ganduje again, the media aide said the goal is to ensure the success of APC at all levels in the state.

Mr Abubakar resigned as deputy governor in August and two days later decamped to the PDP along with 10 former aides to Governor Ganduje.

Mr Abubakar told his supporters then that he resigned his position because Mr Ganduje’s administration had deviated from the “ideology, policies and manifesto of ‘Kwankwasiyya,”’ the name of the political group led by Mr Kwankwaso.

Two months later, the former deputy governor abandoned the PDP for the PRP.

Mr Abubakar who failed to secure the PDP governorship ticket told his supporters that he left the party due to injustice meted on his supporters.

He said the PDP failed to grant his ‘only request’ that one slot in the Kano State House of Assembly should be given to one of his loyalists.

The former deputy governor has been complaining about the nomination of Salihu Takai as the PRP governorship candidate in Kano, a factor that may have informed his decision to leave the party.

Kano State, the most populous in Northern Nigeria, is also the state where President Buhari had the largest number of votes in the 2015 election. Then Mr Kwankwaso was the governor and worked for the president’s success.

Premium Times

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Featured

Peter Obi, Only Life in ADC, Says Fayose

Published

on

By

Former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, says the former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, is the only life in the African Democratic Congress, ADC.

Fayose made this statement on Friday while fielding questions in an interview on ‘Politics Today’, a programme on Channels Television.

He also said that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is technically no more, adding that it is dead.

The former governor equally said that Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde, should not be dragged into the woes of the PDP.

He said: “Obi is the only life in ADC; all other people in ADC are semi-existent. If Obi had remained in Labour Party or has gone to Accord Party, he is the only life there. All the other people there, they are not existing. They are old-forces.

“Openly, I supported Tinubu in 2023. I didn’t hide it. Till now I’m still there. I don’t jump. I have said it to you I’m not a member of APC and I will never be.”

DailyPost

Continue Reading

Featured

More Troubles for Ahmed Farouk: Dangote Drags Ex-NMDPRA Boss to EFCC over Corruption Claims

Published

on

By

The Chairman of Dangote Industries, Aliko Dangote, through his legal representative, has filed a formal corruption petition against the former Managing Director of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Farouk Ahmed, at the headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

This was disclosed in a statement made available to our correspondent by the Dangote Group media team on Friday.

Recall that Dangote had earlier petitioned the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to investigate Ahmed for allegedly spending $5 million on his children’s secondary education in Switzerland. He withdrew the petition a few days ago, even as the ICPC vowed to continue with its investigation.

The statement on Friday said Dangote’s petition to the EFCC followed “The withdrawal of the same petition from the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, a strategic decision aimed at accelerating the prosecution process.”

In the petition, signed by Lead Counsel Dr O.J. Onoja, Dangote urged the EFCC to investigate allegations of abuse of office and corrupt enrichment against Ahmed, and to prosecute him if found culpable.

The petition further stated that Dangote would provide evidence to substantiate claims of financial misconduct and impunity.

“We make bold to state that the commission is strategically positioned, along with sister agencies, to prosecute financial crimes and corruption-related offences, and upon establishing a prima facie case, the courts do not hesitate to punish offenders. See Lawan v. F.R.N (2024) 12 NWLR (Pt. 1953) 501 and Shema v. F.R.N. (2018) 9 NWLR (Pt.1624) 337,” the petition read.

Onoja further urged the commission, under the leadership of Mr Olanipekun Olukoyede, “To investigate the complaint of abuse of office and corruption against Engr. Farouk Ahmed and to accordingly prosecute him if found wanting.”

Continue Reading

Featured

How Fubara’s Impeachment Moves Will Collapse – Sam Amadi

Published

on

By

Former Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, Sam Amadi, has identified due judicial process as Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s strongest safeguard against impeachment in Rivers State.

He specifically stated that the judicial phase of the process remains Fubara’s “saving grace,” as it is likely to shield him from impeachment.

Amadi said the impeachment process hinges largely on the appointment of an investigative panel by the state’s Chief Judge, describing it as the “anchor point” of the entire procedure.

Speaking on Arise Television’s Morning Show on Friday, Amadi noted that Governor Fubara’s influence over the judicial process gives him significant leverage, especially given what he described as the weak legal basis of the impeachment allegations.

He argued that the grounds being advanced against the governor do not amount to gross misconduct, stressing that an independent panel made up of individuals of integrity would likely reach the conclusion that Fubara has committed no impeachable offence since the end of emergency rule in the state.

He said: “Now the main anchor for the impeachment procedure is the appointment by the Chief Judge of the state of those investigators. That is really, really the anchor point. If you don’t get there, you are gone.

“So what leverage does he have? Of course, he removed the chief judge, everything has been politics, and I don’t blame him. He knows the game against himself. He appointed a chief judge that we think would be more amenable to him, and again, because also the grounds for his impeachment are not legally overwhelming, to say the least, some would say it’s really trash. But the judge will be the saving point here, because he will appoint people who may not, at least by definition, constitutionally, people of integrity, who are not politically partisan.

“So they will look at the lens and say, has this governor, since the end of emergency rule, done anything that amounts to gross misconduct, even though the Supreme Court has said gross misconduct is in the eye of the beholder. But here this men of integrity would look at the lens and say, what really is the big deal here? What has this governor done that’s suffering six months’ incarceration, if you like, politically, and then coming back hasn’t done anything.

“So this will be the saving… They will say, we don’t think this guy has done anything to warrant impeachment. I think the least saving grace will be the judicial side, where he has more leverage, and whose definitive proclamation by via the investigators who say no guilt. And the law says, as Nikki Tobi rightly put it, he says “they don’t have two options, just one of two proven: not proven. If they say not proven that is dead. If they say proven, then straight to the process of impeachment.” So that, I think, is really where we are here, and that’s a saving grace for him.”

Continue Reading

Trending