•Says ex-Kano gov a day-dreamer
•Over
17 attempts to reconcile us have failed
The political feud
between Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano state, and his predecessor,
Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, both of the ruling All Progressives Congress,
(APC) is not about ending anytime soon. Ganduje in this interview in Abuja,
admitted that though there is no permanent friend or foe in politics, he doubts
if APC national leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who has been saddled with the
responsibility of reconciling aggrieved party leaders by President Buhari, will
be able reconcile him and Kwankwaso because, according to him, the former Kano
governor has frustrated over 17 of similar attempts in the past.
Ganduje who served as
Kwankwaso’s deputy for eight years said his former boss set up traps for him to
fail including leaving behind a liability of over N300 billion, declaring free
education at all levels and foreign scholarships for students that is today
costing his government N4 billion, establishing Technical College of Education
five days before handing over without approval from the federal
government, or the state House of Assembly, with no infrastructure, no plans
for teachers, and equipment, among others. JULIANA TAIWO-OBALONYE reports the details.
You are one of the leaders who called for the removal of
indigene issue in the constitution. Why do you think such move is necessary?
Well, in this country we
are having a lot of problems; religious, tribal, herdsmen and farmers’ clash,
etc. All these have to do with relationships and, of course, the current
economic realities. But, the constitution we borrowed from the United States of
America should be applied fully even though we are in a different zone and
culture. In order to get very serious national integration, the parameters of
national indigeneship should not be based on tribe, religion or place of birth,
it should be based on where you are staying and what you do. Are you paying
your taxes? Are you contributing to the overall development of where you are
since you are benefiting from the services there? You are benefiting from the security
that is being provided, are you contributing your own quota to the development
of that environment? If you are already paying your taxes, I think you are
already an indigene of that place, not just because you are the son of the
soil, but because you are contributing to the economic development of the
state, employing people and doing great and positive things.
In Kano, we are doing our
part to ensure that that dichotomy is removed. Because in some states where we
have some problems, it is basically because of this indigeneship issue. So, our
belief is that to have national integration we should remove indigeneship
issue. So, I think it is a constitutional issue, which the national and state
assemblies should deal with.
In other words, you are saying that all the people in Kano state
are indigenes?
Yes. In Kano, I tell all
the ethnic groups that they are indigenes of Kano state only claiming to come
from somewhere else.
The Vice President said in Kogi state recently that N1.9
trillion was given to states as support. How much did Kano get? How much did
you spend on workers’ welfare?
Of course, we have
benefited from all the bailouts from the federal government because the
situation we found ourselves when the oil money dropped below $30 a barrel was
such that many states couldn’t even pay salaries. We got the bailout and now we
are paying salaries on time. We are not owing any salary arrears. The problem
we were having initially was an internal one, which has been solved. Some
people were being overpaid while others were underpaid maybe due to the fact
that something went wrong in the system, but we have already put that in order.
The projects of the previous government you have completed and
the ones you have initiated, where did the funds come from? Is it from your
internally generated revenue?
When we came, we had to
reform the old system. I had to request all the staff of the State Board of
Internal Revenue to go back to the Office of the Head of Civil Service. We
employed a consultant, advertised, and then we took the best brains, some of
them not even from the state. When we took over, we were getting less than N1
billion a month, but because of our reforms and interventions, we now get over
N4 billion every month. It is not up to what we are expecting because up till
now those that are supposed to be paying tax are yet to be fully captured in
our revenue net.
You know some people
don’t want to pay tax, so we are deploying a lot of advocacy to capture them on
our revenue net. The reason people don’t want to pay taxes is that they assume
their money is being embezzled.
Yes, the increase in our
IGR made it possible for us to embark on a lot of capital projects. We
virtually use what we are getting from Abuja to pay salaries. So, all our
capital projects in Kano state are being funded from the revenue generated from
taxes and that is why we label each project thus: ‘This project is being funded
with taxpayers money.’ This of course is encouraging people to pay taxes.
You said recently that the political history of Kwankwaso cannot
be written without you being mentioned and yours too cannot be written without
mentioning him. So how come you have refused to bow to him to get the maximum
political stability and peace in the state?
Yes, we were very, very
close. Even before 1999, we have been friends. I was Commissioner for Works and
Transport for six years during the military, and my former governor is a
politician right from the military when political parties were formed. I
started politics right from 1978, and in 1979 during the NPN period, I even
contested election and was even part of the executive members of the party in
the state. So, politics is not something I am just starting now.
So, we contested together
for governorship in 1999 and the result was controversial. Prince Tony Momoh
was in Kano to supervise the primaries, the result was controversial; the
elders reconciled us that he should be governor and I should be the deputy
governor. I insisted that there should be re-election, but elders pleaded and I
agreed to be the deputy governor. Tony Momoh is still alive, you can ask him.
And since I became the
deputy governor I had to do it well. I had to be loyal, respectful and honest.
So, I worked hard to add value to the government by supporting the governor not
only by being loyal to him but working very hard to fill the gaps, promote the
government and work round the clock to ensure when he is not around there is no
difference. That is how we worked together. Even when he was a minister, I was
with him. I was on my own when he invited me to come and be his adviser when he
was Minister of Defence. I agreed because after all, we have been together, and
he felt we could work together.
When we won the elections
in 2011, he graciously invited me, it was not as a result of any contest
between us, but out of his own volition. I have to thank him for that because
he could have invited someone else.
So, we worked together
peacefully. When I was nominated and after I won the elections in 2015, before
handing over, I started seeing some elements of undercuts from his body
language.
He didn’t attend my
swearing-in, he just handed over and left for Abuja because he claimed he had
something to do. I said okay and went for the swearing-in. A night before he
left, I went to him and I said during my campaign, I said that my
administration will be a government of continuity. I told him that I want to
retain the Secretary to the State Government. The SSG did not know, I was the
one that told him. I told him that I want to retain the Accountant General. The
DG Media is his friend, I told him I want to retain him, and I later made him a
Permanent Secretary. The Press Secretary, I told him I want to retain him, so
he phoned and told him. And then the four administrative staff in the office, I
asked him ‘will you like to take some’, he said he was taking only one, the
remaining three are still in my office. So, that was a symbol of continuity.
Then it came to the
appointment of commissioners and, of course, from his body language I had
started seeing some elements of disagreements. So, I didn’t get his opinion on
the appointment of the commissioners because I thought that was not even
necessary because the commissioners are not as strong in government as SSG and
the Accountant General. So, I thought it was something I could do. Even at
that, my Commissioner for Agriculture now was also his Commissioner for
Agriculture, we are still together; the Commissioner for Local Government is a
younger brother to his wife, he was chairman of local government during his
time; the Commissioner for Water Resources was an adviser in his government;
the Commissioner for Finance was also Commissioner for Finance in his
government.
Like I said, I started
seeing some elements of undercuts from his body language, and then he started
attacking my administration. First, even before handing-over, he said he has
paid all the contractors in Kano, but the contractors went to radio stations
and said he was telling lies. You could see that he was trying to heat up the
system even before handing-over.
Some months before he
left, he declared free education at all levels knowing well that it was clearly
impossible. When he said free education, the Vice Chancellor of Bayero
University said okay, the highest number of students in the university, ‘this
is the figure please give us the money because since you declared free
education what it means is that they will not pay single kobo.’ He said the VC
should divide the figure into four that he will pay and the VC said no, ‘our
budget is not based on that.’ Students in other universities were paying, and
yet he said it was free education.
And also, few weeks
before he left, he was sending students in thousands abroad; some studying
chemistry, geography, biology, engineering, medicine. And you know how much it
is costing us so far because of the fall of the naira, he paid N4 billion on
foreign scholarships. When we calculated, each foreign student will get N68,000
per month. It was a huge expenses considering our challenges occasioned by the
drop in the prices of oil at the international market. In fact, some state
governments returned their students from foreign universities because they
couldn’t cope, but I didn’t return anybody. I’m still paying with tears.
Again, he took pension
money and built houses that up till now we are finding it very difficult to
dispose off. We put N4.1 billion from the pension fund and the liability we
have on the houses is over N3 billion. So, even if we sell the houses, we have
to pay contractors. So, what I am trying to say is that even before
handing-over, he was setting up some traps so that the government will be a
failure. He even went to my senatorial district five days before my taking over
and said he was establishing a Technical College of Education in one of the
local governments. How can you establish a school like that without approval
from the federal government, without any legislation from the State House of
Assembly, without any infrastructure, no plans for teachers, no plans for
equipment? He did this so that when I come, I will find problem on ground.
After he left, I told the
people that it was a story-telling because there is nothing on ground to
establish a college of education. What I discovered later is that we have a
Federal College of Education (Technical). The Provost told me that Kwankwaso
told him he wanted to establish a college of education and he told him not to
because we are not even filling our quota in the federal college.
And then he wrote me a letter that I
should not receive bailout. How could I have paid salary if I don’t? When the
federal government thought we needed bailout, he wrote me a letter that I
shouldn’t collect bailout knowing that he left a liability of over N300
billion. The Transition Committee was the one that gave that figure and then he
started quarreling. He said why should the Transition Committee say he left a
liability of over N300 billion. I told him this was released even before the
handing over.
I held a press conference
and I said leaving a liability is not a crime. This government is a government
of continuity and I will continue to forge ahead. But he was still pained that
the Transition Committee said he left a liability of over N300 billion, but
that was the fact. So, you find all these kinds of things, which I didn’t want
to bring to the open until he decided to attack me.
He even wrote in the
letter that receiving loan from the federal government was not part of the
Kwankwasiya policy. So I started to wonder, what is Kwankwasiya policy? Because
I was the first person to put the Kwankwasiya structure on ground. He started
using some members of Kano State House of Assembly against me, but God so kind,
out of the 40 members, 35 of them are with us. Even at the federal level, most
of the lawmakers are with us.
The crux of the matter is that he wants
to be remote-controlling me. How can I be remote-controlled by somebody outside
the government? I was a civil servant at the state level after graduation and I
got to level 17 at the federal level. I have been in politics for years. I was
secretary to our party in my local government, assistant secretary of our party
at the state level, commissioner for six years and deputy governor for eight
years. For goodness sake, if you are talking about government, I should know
what it is about.
He would have been the
luckiest former governor, I can assure you that because we’ve been nice to him.
But it’s obvious he doesn’t want us to succeed. That is why he is not
contributing anything in the Senate because he is concentrating on Kano.
Sometimes, I wonder if in his dreams he still thinks he is the governor of Kano
state. Instead of him to concentrate in the Senate by making laws, and being
versatile on national and international issues and see how he can assist our
democracy, he is dreaming of becoming the President of this country while he is
quiet in the Senate. How can he rule this country? What ideas does he have?
Are there efforts in place to find peace between you and
Kwankwaso because what is happening in Kano has the capacity to distract APC
government at the national level?
Reconciliation is very
important. First of all, the National Working Committee of our party and some
stakeholders were invited to look into our matter. I was there and I made my
case, he too made his case and then they said, ‘go inside the room and sort out
yourselves.’ We met in this very house (Kano State Governor’s Lodge, Asokoro,
Abuja) and elders said we should go and sort out ourselves, he said he was not
going. He banged the door and left, saying he was not a small boy.
The stakeholders asked
what next? I said ‘don’t go after him. When you people said we should go into
the room and sort out ourselves, I told you people I was ready to go and
reconcile with him.’ And what was the issue? The bone of contention was that
the chairman of the party in the state was dishonest. We caught him red-handed.
He told somebody to go to a radio station and blackmail the government not
knowing that the person was recording him. And then the person went to the
radio station and did what he was asked to do.
Then somebody went to the
chairman and said he should call the man to order because of what he said about
the government and the governor. So, the chairman issued a statement just on
the face value. And people called him and told him that what he said in the statement
was not enough. So, the other person who abused me turned around and said, it
was the chairman that asked him to abuse me and he released the recording.
The chairman then came
with the speaker of the State House of Assembly and some elders and brought the
Holy Qur’an and said to me, ‘I swear to God, I never did that.’ And I said go
and put it in writing but up till today he never did that. Then I said go and
continue with your job. Then Kwankwaso said that they wanted to condole with
me, I asked him how many of them were coming and he said only him. I said when
you are coming let me know so that I can send my chief detail to receive you,
he said I shouldn’t worry. Meanwhile, chairman of the local government told me
that they got a text message that the former governor was coming and they
should all come to the airport. They invited all sorts of people, they came to
the airport and even broke some equipment there. Right from the airport to my
village, they were abusing me; that I lost election, that I was not in the
Kwankwasiya group. They did that to the extent that even when they were
supposed to offer prayers, they were shouting.
I think that was the last
straw that broke the carmel’s back. When he did that, the party said ‘no, no,
no, this is wrong.’ Then the party’s executive council convened and had a press
conference that they would investigate how people were abusing instead of
condoling with me.
Stakeholders at the
second meeting the following day asked the chairman to go and refute the
statement that the party would investigate the incident. The SSG that I
inherited from Kwankwaso held a meeting in his house and told the chairman to
go and refute it, and the chairman refuted it; that he was under duress.
Then the party passed a
vote of no confidence on him. So, the former governor insisted that the man
should continue to be the chairman. How can a senator control the party at the
state level? If I was an amateur politician, it will be possible. But not with
a man of my caliber and the stage I am in politics. To be frank, when I started
politics he was in school and when he went into politics I sponsored him in
many contests.
There was a time some
governors tried to reconcile us. They said he should come to Malam Aminu Kano
House in Abuja, he said he was not coming. I said don’t worry, that is not a
problem, let’s go to him. We met him, and had a very lengthy discussion. We even
shook hands, and yet there was no reconciliation. He was always abusing me.
And then one senator came
and said he wanted to reconcile us, I said I have been counting the number of
attempts people have made to reconcile us, about 17 times, but to no avail. And
then he said what role can he play and I said yes, there is a role you could
play now. Go and tell him that it is even shameful for a third party to try and
reconcile us, why not the two of us sit down together and iron things out.
I said whenever I am in
Abuja, we will go to his house, myself and himself will drive in a car either
he drives or I drive because when I was a director we used to drive around
Abuja together. So I said tell him that when I come to Abuja, I will take him
then two of us will go around Abuja, seat and discuss and iron out our problems.
Or he will come to my
house and when the sycophants around us see us drive together, they will leave
us. Believe you me, he said no that he was not coming to my house. That man is
still a senator. He said no, we are no longer friends and then I said well,
good luck.
All efforts for us to
reconcile failed, and unfortunately, the problem has gotten to the local level.
I did all what I could to reconcile us, but he refused. What kind of a person
is he? He wants to control the government from Abuja. But till today I respect
him.
Are you still open for reconciliation?
Yes, it is possible, but
the state will not be in his palms. He cannot impose his will on us. We
recently conducted local government elections in the state, he went to court to
stop the election, but we defeated him. He took us to a court here in Abuja to stop
us, but up till now the case is on, and the court did not stop us from
conducting the election. But still there is no permanent friend or permanent
enemy. We will reconcile, but he has to agree to some terms.
President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed an APC stalwart, Ahmed
Bola Tinubu, to reconcile all aggrieved members of the party. Can Tinubu
reconcile you and your predecessor?
If you read the
newspapers today (Wednesday), my predecessor was in Anambra State campaigning
to be president on the platform of the APC. I told someone if you reconcile us
now, don’t you think we shall fall apart again? Because I am for Buhari. Kano
state has a total of 342 delegates. We have the highest number of delegates in
Nigeria in APC. No state has up to 300 delegates, and I can assure you if
Kwankwaso contests against Buhari in APC, he will get zero vote from Kano. We
are waiting for Tinubu, he is a highly respected person. We are ready for
dialogue and reconciliation.
Don’t you think that this crisis with your predecessor will
affect your chances in the 2019 elections?
On 2019 elections, that
is left to God. But personally, I wouldn’t mind for him to join another party,
back a candidate that will contest against me. And if the constitution allows,
I would even invite him to come and contest against me on a different platform
to test his popularity. Politics is like that.
Why do you still retain one of the key elements of the
Kwankwasiya ideology, the red cap?
It is not as red as it
used to be, it is now modified. This red cap you are seeing is not that of
Kwankwaso. So, that is the situation we are now. We have tried all we could to
reconcile, but our efforts didn’t yield fruitful results. And you know, I
cannot waste my time on crisis.
Source:
THESUN
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