Rabiu Kwankwaso, the former governor of Kano State and presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party in the February 25, 2023, presidential election, has stated that President Bola Tinubu was taken aback by the alleged atrocities committed by Abdullahi Ganduje, the immediate past governor of Kano State.
Kwankwaso, who spoke to State House correspondents at the Aso Rock Villa after a private meeting with the President, revealed that both he and Ganduje were summoned to the State House by Tinubu to discuss the ongoing demolitions in Kano State.
Elaborating on the controversy surrounding the demolitions, Kwankwaso emphasized that the buildings that were demolished had been unlawfully acquired during Ganduje’s administration.
When Kwankwaso informed the President about the true situation, he expressed shock and surprise at the revelations.
He said: “The President was shocked. Are you not shocked that somebody will sell the university? Are you not shocked that he demolished the only university? Daula Hotel, for those of you who are in Kano, you know the old Daula, demolished to zero, and that is a faculty under the University of Science and Technology. He demolished that one. Are you not shocked?
“The President was shocked. He didn’t know. He even mentioned that he talked to somebody to go and find out for him. But when I told him, I said, “You are a Muslim; very soon you are going for Sallah. How can you go under those circumstances and pray in that place? And even the Triumph place he is talking about, you are journalists. You should be angry because that’s your constituency; he demolished it completely and put shops everywhere.”
Kwankwaso stated that his party, led by Governor Abba Yusuf, was simply carrying out their campaign commitments to demolish those structures.
“You see, the governor is doing what we campaigned with. I wanted to be president; I campaigned also. And I went to Kano and told them that these places—schools, in fact, most of our schools in Kano— were being encroached on. And it is our policy to make sure that the encroached areas are returned to them.”
