PDP Chairman, Sheriff will betray the party - Kano Governor

Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, on Thursday said the new national chairman of the PDP, Ali Sherriff, would end up working for the ruling APC in 2019, against his claim that PDP would reclaim power in 2019.

Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje

Mr. Ganduje said this on in Abuja while fielding questions from journalists at the monthly APC media roundtable.

According to him, the new PDP chairman does not have the clout to restore power to any party.

Mr. Sherriff had on Wednesday said that he would ensure power return to the PDP.

“I do not wish to engage in cross fire, but I will like to tell you that it is the normal utterance of one who wants to impress his followers.

“I believe it is an empty threat. Looking at the antecedents, the history of the chairman himself, we all know he is a cross-carpeter.

“He is always on the move in changing from one party to another. Even when he was in All Nigerian People’s Party (ANPP) for eight years, he was working for the Peoples Democratic Party.

“Even the APC started with him, and then he went back to the PDP and we were happy. I am sure in the long run he will work for us, and that is what I believe.

“We are happy because we believe in the long run he would work for us; find out his history, you will believe me,” he said.

On establishing state police, which some states have been clamouring for, the governor said the time was ripe to allow states to be in charge of their own policing and security.

“Given the situation we find ourselves, I think there is no better time we need the state police than now because the security at the moment requires intelligence information.

“It involves people who are conversant about the society, who are conversant with the tradition, who are conversant with the culture,” the governor said.

(NAN)

PDP Chairman, Sheriff will betray the party - Kano Governor

Ganduje cautions FG over negotiation with Boko Haram, lawyers divided

Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State has urged the Federal Government to be cautious in its negotiation with the Boko Haram sect.

Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje

The governor, who was fielding questions from State House correspondents in Abuja on Friday, expressed fears that the government might end up dealing with a fake faction of the militant sect.

He said, “I hope when we negotiate with them, we are negotiating with the correct people.

“Experience has shown that the group has so many factions and if we are not lucky, we may be dealing with the wrong faction.”

 

In a related development, lawyers in separate interviews with one of our correspondents, expressed diverse views over President Muhammadu Buhari’s expressed willingness to grant amnesty to Boko Haram in exchange for the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls.

While some lawyers were in support of the move, others expressed pessimism over the offer of amnesty to the insurgents for releasing the over 200 girls who were kidnapped on April 14, 2014.

A civil rights lawyer and social commentator, Mr. Wahab Shittu, identified this time when the Nigerian military appears to be gaining momentum in the fight against Boko Haram as the right time for the government to negotiate with them.

He noted that Nigeria “must ensure it negotiates from a position of strength and not that of weakness.”

He said, “It is the right time because ultimately no matter how prolonged any crisis is, the combatants will get to a negotiation table.

“The primary purpose of any government is the security and welfare of its citizens and if on that score government because of one life decides to negotiate, it is okay because any life lost cannot be replaced.”

Another civil rights lawyer, Mr. Liborous Oshoma, who also supported the move however called on the government to get to the roots of the insurgency to prevent other people from taking up arms against the state in the future.

He said, “Anything that will lead to the release of those girls, that is if they are still together, is welcome. This is not the first time that government is even attempting to use the carrot and stick approach and it is good that the government is not saying that it is going to fold its arms and beg them to come and take amnesty.

“It should be as bait to get to the sponsors of the group. Government should address the root cause of the Boko Haram crisis because if that is not addressed, another group will spring up in the future. It is better to rehabilitate these people than to leave them to continue on this rampage of killing innocent people.”

Mr. Jiti Ogunye, another lawyer, however, noted that it would be dangerous to grant amnesty to Boko Haram on the basis of the release of the Chibok girls if the group has not renounced violence.

He therefore described Buhari’s invitation to the group as bait.

He said, “They have not repudiated their satanic ideology so if the Chibok girls were released for example and they are granted amnesty on that score, what happens next? Will they stop blowing up people and all that?”

Ganduje cautions FG over negotiation with Boko Haram, lawyers divided

Kano Governor threatens to expose Kwankwaso stewardship in office

By Abdulsalam Muhammad

The cold war between Kano State  governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, and his predecessor, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has  degenerated to full blown hostility  following  the threat by the former to exposed the latter’s stewardship in office.

Kwankwaso

Ganduje, who went for broke when he hosted the leadership of Kano  students  abroad under the aegis of General Association of Northern Nigeria Students, based in Egypt, alleged the distortion   of the state scholarship programme.

The long-time Kwankwaso’s political soul mate declared: “For one year, Kwankwaso did not pay a single kobo as tuition fee for our students studying abroad.

“Right now, Kano State government owes those students N3 billion, and painfully, our revenue is dwindling and we would be cautious in handling the situation”.

The new Kano strongman revealed that the delay in the payment of the tuitions fee was caused by the Kwankwaso administration, even  as he stressed: “For whatever reasons, the Kwankwaso  administration distorted the scholarship programme”.

The enraged governor told the leadership of the students: “I’ve decided to let the cat out of the bag so that, as educated people, you would understand where your problems lies”.

Sunday Vanguard learnt that last Wednesday weekly state executive meeting, presided over by Ganduja, had  condemned the failure of the Kwankwaso  administration to fulfill financial obligation to the programme despite  the allegation that huge amounts of money in foreign currency were allocated to it by the former regime.

 

Kano Governor threatens to expose Kwankwaso stewardship in office