• NNPP, APC at loggerheads over Kwankwaso’s statement on security threats
From Desmond Mgboh, Kano
Six months ago, former governor of Kano State and leader of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabiu Kwankwaso, predicted that the new administration in the state would surely revisit the Kano Emirate issue:
“Honestly, it is one of those things, which nobody has sat with me to discuss so far. But I am sure that we are going to sit and see how to go about it. Is it going to be allowed, demolished, corrected, or whatever? It will be revisited and what is supposed to be done, will be done.”
Today, his prediction has come to pass. The five emirs of Kano, Bichi, Rano, Karaye and Gaya, appointed by the immediate past administration of Ganduje, were all sacked while the law establishing their councils was repelled.
However, the dethronement of the emirs, especially the 15th Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero, has not been seamless as was envisaged by the promoters of his deposition. Against the run of play, Bayero who ought to have been committed to a lifetime exile elsewhere, as prescribed by tradition for deposed emirs, is back to the state as an alternate emir. This has raised the bar of the dispute.
Bayero is presently resident at the Nassarawa mini-palace, heavily guarded by security agencies to the chagrin of Kwankwaso, the state government and their sympathisers.
Further to this development, two Federal Courts have since assumed respective jurisdictions to hear the rights application cases brought against the authorities and have also not vacated their restraining orders, while one of them is set to give a ruling on the validity of the repelled Kano Emirate Law.
These unexpected misfortunes on the side of Muhammadu Sanusi’s quest to the throne foreground the recent explosive outburst by Kwankwaso, who until now had remained silent, calculative, operating from the background in the wake of the dispute.
Speaking at the flag-off for the construction of 82 kilometres rural road networks at his hometown, Madobi on Monday, Kwankwaso accused the All Progressive Congress (APC)-led Federal Government of “attempting to create a new breed of Boko Haram terrorists and insurgents in Northern Nigeria. The people of Kano will resist any attempt to undermine the constituted authority in the state.
“We have mass followership. The people believe in us, we are pro-people. The NNPP administration is determined to serve them anywhere they voted for it.
“We will not fold our arms and watch enemies of the state destroy the peaceful co-existence of our dear state. We shall do everything possible to support the governor to succeed.
“There are people from Kano, enemies of the state, who also suffer mental illness and are the ones advising the Federal Government on how to take over Kano through a state of emergency. This is madness of the highest order that the good, peace loving and committed people Kano will resist.
“In the build-up to 2027, some desperate politicians are already on a mission of disruption. But we will rather prefer the two of us to lose than to allow them crush us unnecessarily. We dare anybody, who thinks he can victimise us politically, to go and be rest assured that we are ready for the fight.
“We are not afraid to be out of power because we will remain politicians in or out of government. We cannot run away from our destiny, we are humans. We know what is good for us and we will pursue it vigorously.”
Kwankwaso claimed that the Federal Government was listening to some unpatriotic politicians from the state, “who will only contribute to its failure as the people of Kano will resist any attempt to undermine the constitutional responsibility of the governor by any individual or group.
“We are open to dialogue, truce and reconciliation. But we will not accept intimidation and political harassment of any sort. We know how to play politics. We have all it takes to protect ourselves from any evil.”
The APC responded, saying the statement was “grossly insensitive.” Felix Morka, national spokesperson of the party, said: “We consider Kwankwaso’s comments to be disappointing, highly incendiary, and unconscionable for an individual of his standing.
“As a former governor and Minister of Defence, we expected Kwankwaso to demonstrate high-grade discretion and a better grip of the severe social, political and security implications of unguarded utterances capable of fuelling tension and strife in the good state of Kano.
“It is disturbing that Kwankwaso would so casually accuse the Federal Government of attempting to create a new breed of Boko Haram terrorists and insurgents, the same Boko Haram that inflicted unspeakable and despicable acts of terror that destroyed the lives of innocent citizens and our heroic men and women in uniform.
“In his unhinged bid to lash out, Kwankwaso ignored the Federal Government’s glaring neutrality on the emirate crisis in Kano from the very outset. The Federal Government has confidence in our courts to fairly adjudicate the matter that is already before them and has no need or reason to side with any of the parties in the emirship dispute.”
Party’s state chairman, said: “Kwankwaso has for long been a security threat to Kano and the nation in view of his antecedents. He runs a cult-like movement in which he has been widely accused of recruiting youth, mostly school drop-outs to unleash terror on the people.
“Before and during the 2023 general elections, thousands of youth were recruited and empowered to intimidate the unsuspecting public through physical attacks, destruction of seemingly opponents’ properties and snatching of mobile phones.
“During the legal battle over the governorship elections in the state, Kwankwaso’s associates had threatened the judges of the tribunal should the outcome turn out to be unfavourable to them.
“Since the forceful enthronement of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as Emir of Kano, hundreds of weapon brandishing thugs have been recruited and stationed at the Emir’s Palace where all sorts of illicit substances are openly being sold, posing threat to residents within and around the palace.”
National Publicity Secretary, NNPP, Ladipo Johnson, countered Abbas: “Nigerians should realise that the unfolding development in Kano is rooted in politics, which is a dangerous thing to cultivate amidst the numerous challenges confronting the Federal Government particularly on the issue of security of life and property.
“The suffocating economy, terrorism and insurgency, kidnapping and the daily blood-letting by criminal gangs across the country, we believe, should be major concerns of the Federal Government rather than dabbling into chieftaincy matters in Kano as a political weapon ahead 2027.
“Now, the inference among the good people of Kano is that the situation is degenerating with the key objective to cause violence on a scale that would lead to the declaration of a state of emergency in Kano, thereby paving the way to take over Kano. In which case they want to achieve what they failed to achieve through the ballot box and the court.”
