The immediate former governor of Kano state and presently a serving senator, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has reacted to the move to suspend him by the Kano state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for allegedly staging a violent rally.
Chairman of the Kano APC chapter, Umar Doguwa, had on Thursday addressed a news conference accusing Senator Kwankwaso of indiscipline following the manner he allegedly turned his condolence visit to GovernorAbdullahi Ganduje into a violent rally.
The party leadership in the state threatened that it would constitute a disciplinary committee to investigate Kwankwaso’s involvement and to punish him accordingly.
However in a statement, issued on Friday, Mr. Kwankwaso denied the allegations, adding that since he left office he had decided to give his successor “space and time to settle down and consolidate on governance without interference.
The statement, signed by Mr. Kwankwaso’s aide, Yunusa Dangwani, said both Kwankwaso and Ganduje had enjoyed close affinity being that Gadnuje was his former deputy for eight years and also his former Special Adviser when Mr. Kwankwaso served as Minister of Defence.
The statement said Kwankwaso had taught it wise to pay condolenc visit to the governor, adding that he, “deliberately gave short notice for the condolence visit”.
According to the statement, the former governor was “pleasantly surprised by the turnout of the good people of Kano who came to receive him at the Malam Aminu Kano Airport and escorted him to Ganduje village”.
It added that by the time Mr. Kwankwaso’s convoy arrived Ganduje town, they were surprised “that some local people brandished local weapons, not minding the somber occasion. It is unfortunate that they could not be chided, thus we left them with their weapons at Ganduje”.
“It is therefore appalling and rather unfortunate that the good gesture of Sen. Kwankwaso has been mischievously interpreted wrongly.
“It is also disheartening that few hours after the death of our state Deputy Chairman Alhaji Isa Ali Danmaraya the government was busy coercing and misleading some party leadership into addressing a press conference that will only culminate in splitting the APC in Kano,” the statement said.
The statement further warned Mr. Ganduje to desist from dragging the name of President Muhammadu Buhari to cover for his administration’s “obvious weaknesses”.
” Kwankwaso therefore urges the governor to “strive to concentrate on facing the enormous challenges of governance such that, perhaps, he may also be revered and respected by the good people of Kano State”.
