Headline

Who’s Afraid of Rabiu Kwankwaso?

Published

3 weeks ago

June 2, 2024

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The recent revelation that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is investigating Rabiu Kwankwaso, former governor of Kano state, over alleged N2.5 billion pension fraud may not have come to a lot of Nigerians as a shock.

Kwankwaso is alleged to be in the middle of the storm brewing in Kano State at the moment concerning the emirship tussle of Kano Emirate between the reinstated Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II, who is known as Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, and the deposed Emir Aminu Ado Bayero. While it is believed that the state government, which Kwankwaso arguably is a part of it, backs the reinstatement of Sanusi, the Federal government supports the continuation in office of Bayero, as he is a product of the immediate past governor of the state, Abdullahi Ganduje, who is now the Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Kwankwaso was the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in 2023, the platform under which the present governor, Kabir Yusuf, was elected.

TheCable reports that a source in the EFCC said that the said sum was diverted from the coffers of the Kano government when Kwankwaso was governor of the state.

The source also alleged that houses that should have been handed to pensioners at the time were “given to other persons” by Kwankwaso, who was governor of Kano from 1999 to 2003 and from 2011 to 2015.

The source told TheCable that “There was a time when a group of pensioners in Kano paid to have their own houses. The money was N2.5 billion, and they diverted the money during the Kwankwaso administration and didn’t give them houses,” the source said.

“The houses were given to other people. So we recovered the houses and returned them to the pensioners.

“But we are currently investigating because it is still a criminal offence. We invited him for questioning but he was not detained. It wasn’t recent and it came before the election.”

News of the investigation comes months after Boniface Aniebonam, founder of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), said Kwankwaso is destroying the party and making attempts to hijack the party’s structure.

In 2023, NNPP’s board of trustees (BoT) suspended Kwankwaso for alleged anti-party activities.

However, another faction of the party loyal to the former governor reversed the suspension.

Kwankwaso was subsequently expelled from the party after he failed to appear before a disciplinary committee.

It is yet to be ascertain if the parts Kwankwaso is playing the dethronement of Ado Bayero, and enthronement of Sanusi is the reason behind the sudden EFCC investigation.

It would be recalled that in 2020, Kwankwaso accused then President Muhammadu Buhari of ordering the dethroning and subsequent banishment to Nasarawa State of Mohammed Sanusi II.

Kwankwaso also derided the president as one who intervenes where he is not supposed to, but does not intervene where he supposed to.

In a statement, he was quoted as saying:

“Let me begin by saying today is a very sad day in Kano, Nigeria and by extension in the entire world, because His Highness the Emir of Kano (Sanusi) is a global personality.

“What we have seen is very sad because there is no responsible government that is supposed to take the kind of step taken by Kano State Government by dethroning Emir Muhammad Sanusi II.

“But, the big issue is that, as enshrined by section 35 of the Nigerian Constitution, even if you dethrone someone as Emir, you ought to allow chose wherever he so pleases to stay, that is even when you follow due process to dethrone him.

“However, like people who are close to President Muhammadu Buhari often say that, the President does not intervene in disputes; that, if people are in dispute the President just keeps quiet, but we in Kano do not see him (President Muhammadu Buhari) like that; we see him like he selects where he intervenes. And where he is supposed to intervene, he doesn’t, but where he is not supposed to intervene, that is where he does.

“You see leaders here in Kano State Government themselves are saying they were given the order to dethrone the Emir. He (President Muhammadu Buhari) is the one that gave them the order.

“The reason they are insinuating that, we are supporting the Emir and the Emir is supporting us is because, His Highness the Emir had said repeatedly that, whoever won the Kano State Governorship election should be given his mandate. Those are the kind of statements from the Emir that got them (APC Governorment) angry.

“And you see, the process they followed in the dethronement of the Emir is not the only problem, the most disturbing is the way and manner they humiliated the people of Kano by humiliating the Emir.

“I never issued query to His Highness Emir Sanusi II or did anything that looks like that. What I know is that, if you are Governor or President, you are supposed to know that, you are a leader, helper of the people, lover peace, not to use what you have like the security forces to muscle people like what we saw in Kano yesterday (Monday).

Alhaji Rabiu Musa Kwakwanso, the subject behind the popular Kwankwasiyya Movement has made and continue to make waves in the Northern political arena and beyond. The former governor of Kano State, who posterity gave pass marks for his eight years stewardship in the ancient city-state, seems to make a third appearance as his protégé, Yusuf, won the 2023 election in the state.

In the buildup to the 2019 presidential election, gave the likes of Atiku Abubakar, Aminu Tambuwal and Bukola Saraki a run for their money for the presidential ticket of the PDP.

In the prelude to the 2015 General Elections, Kwankwazo narrowly lost to the incumbent President, Muhammadu Buhari, at the party primaries held at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos. He beat former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to the third place.

Kwankwaso was born on October 21,1956 in Kwankwaso village of Madobi Local Government Area of Kano State. He attended Kwankwaso Primary School, Gwarzo Boarding Senior Primary School, Wudil Craft School and Kano Technical College before proceeding to Kaduna Polytechnic where he did both his National Diploma, and Higher National Diploma. He did postgraduate studies in the United Kingdom a Middlesex Polytechnic (1982-1983) and Loughborough University of Technology (1983 -1985) where he got his master’s degree in Water Engineering. Kwankwaso was an active student leader during his school days and was an elected official of the Kano State Students Association.

Kwankwaso started work in 1975 at the Kano State Water Resources and Engineering Construction Agency (WRECA), serving as a civil servant for 17 years in various capacities and rising through the ranks as the principal engineer.

In 1992, Kwankwaso was elected as a member of House of Representatives representing Madobi Federal Constituency. His subsequent election as Deputy Speaker in the House brought him to the limelight of national politics.

During the 1995 Constitutional Conference, Kwankwaso was elected as one of the delegates from Kano, as a member of the Peoples Democratic Movement led by Yar’adua. He joined the PDP in 1998 under the platform of Peoples Democratic Movement in Kano led by Mallam Musa Gwadabe, Senator Hamisu Musa and Alhaji Abdullahi Aliyu Sumaila. He was elected governor of Kano State in 2007 and served for two terms before being elected as a senator. He defected from the PDP in 2014 and returned on July 24, 2018.

The coming days will determine the authenticity of EFCC’s claim, or if it is just another witch-hunt to persuade him to dance to the Federal Government’s tune in the Kano Emirship tussle.

Headline

Sanusi Remains Emir, Says Kano Govt, Orders Removal of Bayero from Nasarawa Palace

Published

5 days ago

June 21, 2024

Eric

The Kano State Government has directed the state’s Commissioner of Police to remove the 15th Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero, from the Nasarawa mini palace.

The state government claimed that Thursday’s judgement by a Federal High Court was in its favour, affirming the state government’s decision to reinstate Emir Lamido Sanusi.

The court nullified the Kano Emirate Council (Amendment No. 2) Law, 2024, that scrapped four of the five emirate councils of the state last month and removed all the five emirs, including Aminu Ado-Bayero of Kano.

The judge, Abdullahi Liman, ruled that the appointment of Mr Sanusi as Kano emir was null and void because the government failed to obey the court order restraining it from taking further action on the new emirate council law.

The judge described Governor Yusuf’s speech during the presentation of the reappointment letter to Mr Sanusi as a road to anarchy, saying that if a court order cannot be respected despite evidence of service, then the government was heading to chaos.

He voided all the actions taken by the governor after the court order, including the signing of the new emirate law and subsequent appointment of Mr Sanusi as emir, and ordered all parties in the case to maintain the status quo.

But in a swift response, the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Haruna Dederi, in a press conference, said the court ruling was in their favour and Mr Sanusi remains the emir.

He said the government has already concluded arrangements for the general reconstruction and renovation of the property, including the demolition and reconstruction of the dilapidated wall fence of the Nasarawa palace with immediate effect.

“Following this court’s ruling, Kano State Government has directed the State Commissioner of Police to remove the deposed emir of the 8 metropolitan local governments from the government property where he is trespassing as the government has already concluded arrangements for the general reconstruction and renovation of the property including the demolishing and reconstruction of the dilapidated wall fence with immediate effect.

“By the ruling of the court, it has unequivocally reaffirmed the validity of the law passed by Kano State House of Assembly and assented to by His Excellency the Executive Governor of Kano State on Thursday, 23rd May 2024 by 5:10 p.m.

“This part of the judgement is very fundamental to the entire matter. Further implication of the ruling is that all actions done by the government before the emergence of the interim order of the honourable court, are equally validated.

“This means that the abolishing of the five emirates created in 2019 is validated, and the deposition of the five emirs is also sustained by the Federal High Court. By implication, this means that Muhammadu Sanusi II remains the emir of Kano.

“The judge also granted our application for the stay of proceedings until the Court of Appeal deals with the appeal before it on jurisdiction. Happily, the signing of the law and the reinstatement of His Highness, Emir Muhammad Sunusi II were done on 23rd May, 2024 before the emergence of the Interim Order which was served on us on Monday 27th May, 2024,” the state government claimed.

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Cholera Outbreak: Ogun Govt Puts Schools on Red Alert

Published

6 days ago

June 20, 2024

Eric

The Ogun State Government has directed school heads to ensure good health and safety of all learners and staff members to prevent the spread of Cholera within the communities.

The Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof Abayomi Arigbabu, said preventive measures have been put in place to control the spread of the disease in schools.

According to him, the measures take effect from Wednesday, June 19, 2024 as schools resumed from the mid-term break and the Eid-el-Kabir holiday.

Some of the measures include comprehensive health talks on Cholera prevention among learners and staff, including information on symptoms, transmission routes, proper hand hygiene, and safe drinking water practices;

“Ensure availability of clean water and soap for hand washing ni school premises;

“Encourage regular hand washing, especially before eating and after using the restroom.

“Promote the use of hand sanitizers with at least 60% alcohol content as a support to hand washing;

“Regularly inspect and maintain water sources within school premises to ensure that they are safe for drinking;

“Instruct learners and staff to consume only boiled or chlorinated water and avoid consuming raw or unwashed fruits and vegetables;

“Maintain clean and hygienic school environments, including proper disposal of waste and regular cleaning of toilets and common areas;

“Collaborate closely with local health authorities and follow their guidelines for cholera prevention and control measures;

“Ensure safe food preparation by making sure that they are properly cooked and covered when not consumed immediately;

“Monitor closely the food vendors and ensure that they collect letters from health facilities certifying their fitness for the job;

“Designate Health Officers within the school to monitor learners and staff for any symptoms of cholera (like frequent watery stooling, etc) and report any suspected cases immediately to the nearest Health Care Centre and ot the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

“By adhering strictly to these preventive measures and maintaining a high level of vigilance, we can collectively safeguard our health and well-being during this critical period,” he added.

Headline

Nnamdi Kanu Opts for Out of Court Settlement, Seeks to Negotiate with FG

Published

7 days ago

June 19, 2024

Eric

Nnamdi Kanu, detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has expressed his readiness to enter into a negotiation with the Federal government to secure his freedom.

Kanu took the position on Wednesday during the resumed proceeding on the seven-count terrorism and treasonable felony charge, which the government entered against him before the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.

His team of lawyers, led by Mr. Alloy Ejimakor, noted that Section 17 of the Federal High Court Act, made provision for amicable resolution of such matters.

Ejimakor notified the court of the decision of his team to explore the option, after he moved two applications that were filed by his client.

Whereas one of the applications, sought the committal of the Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mr. Yusuf Bichi, to prison for contempt of court, the second motion challenged the jurisdiction of the court to continue with the trial.

According to Kanu’s lawyer, he would be left with no option but to activate section 17 of the FHC Act, in the event that the court dismisses the two applications he moved on behalf of his client.

“Section 17 of Federal High Court Rules, states that in any proceedings, the court may consider reconciliation and settlement,” Ejimakor added.

On his part, the government’s lawyer, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), said he had earlier informed the defendant that he lacks the powers to embark on such negotiation as it is not part of the Fiat that was issued to him by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.

He maintained that only the AGF has the authority to negotiate or take further steps in relation to the matter, noting that the case borders on alleged terrorism.

“If he is interested in negotiating, he knows the right place, the Attorney General of the Federation office,” Adegboyega, stated.

Reacting to the development, trial Justice Binta Nyako said the duty of the court was to hear the matter that was brought before it and not to act as a solicitor for any of the parties.

He said it was left for the parties to agree on the way they want the matter to go.

“If you want to discuss with the AGF, no problem at all,” Justice Nyako added.

It will be recalled that Kanu was first arrested in Lagos on October 14, 2015, upon his return to the country from the United Kingdom, UK.