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Demolition: I could have slapped Kwankwaso at Aso Rock – Ganduje

He sold properties to himself, family – Kwankwaso

The immediate past governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, has said he could have slapped his predecessor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso if he met him at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Daily Trust had reported how Kwankwaso met with President Bola Tinubu at Aso Rock on Friday.

While briefing State House reporters after a meeting with Tinubu on the security situation in Kano State following the demolition exercise embarked upon by the administration of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, Ganduje expressed displeasure.

“I know he is in the building but we have not met. If we met, maybe I could have slapped him,” he said.

Ganduje said the demolition exercise was done without carrying out any investigation or giving due notice in line with the provisions of the Land Use Act.

The former governor said he spoke at length on the issue while reporting the matter to the president and had petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, with a video evidence of the looting and vandalisation that trailed the demolition.

He said the governor, who he described as a “stooge” of Kwankwaso, was no longer happy because of the condemnation that greeted the move.

Daily Trust Saturday reports that the state governor had said the demolition exercise was part of the fulfillment of his campaign promise to “restore” the urban development master plan of the city.

He had also insisted that the exercise was not a vendetta against the past administration of Ganduje, and that many more demolitions would follow.

…He sold properties to himself, family – Kwankwaso

Reacting after meeting with the president, Kwankwaso, who was accompanied by Senator-elect Jubril Abdulmumini, dismissed all the allegations against him.

He said the governor carried out the demolition exercise in fulfillment of his campaign promise to “restore” the urban development masterplan of the city and not a vendetta against the past administration of Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.

He said Ganduje, who stopped him from entering Kano for three and a half years, sold some of the properties to himself and his family members.

Kwankwaso said plots of land belonging to the university, hajj camp, race course and Eid Ground were sold.

He said most of the people making noise were beneficiaries who were forewarned with no certificates.

The presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), who came fourth in the February 25, 2023 election, said construction of high-rise buildings on the famous Eid Ground in Kano was a security risk which could not be tolerated.

Asked if he was satisfied with the president’s intervention, 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?”

He disclosed that the issue of a ministerial post for him in the Tinubu administration came up during his discussion with the president, adding that he was open to working with the president to move the nation forward.