TheCable

Abdullahi Ganduje, immediate past governor of Kano, says he could have slapped Rabiu Kwankwaso, his predecessor if he had met him at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Ganduje spoke on Friday after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu on the security situation and the ongoing demolition exercise in Kano.

The former governor said he visited the villa to report Kwankwaso to the president, adding that some of the demolitions were carried out on the directive of his predecessor.

While delivering his inaugural speech on May 29, Abba Yusuf, governor of Kano, directed security agencies to revoke all public properties sold during Ganduje’s administration.

Yusuf said the properties were acquired and built illegally, adding that revoking them was not an attempt to go against the previous administration.

The governor had also said the demolition exercise was to fulfil part of his campaign promises to “restore” the urban development masterplan of the city.

Some of the buildings recently demolished in the state are the Haji camp, Daula Hotel, and shopping complexes around the Eid Prayer Ground in Kano.

The former governor expressed concern over the demolition exercise, adding that “we don’t want it to result into religious or tribal conflict. Thousands of traders have been rendered shelterless without any business”.

Ganduje said the demolition was “illegal” as it was carried out without proper investigation or due notice by the provisions of the land use act.

“We appointed a technical committee right from the beginning. They submitted a report to the executive council. The executive council approved the PPP project,” he said.

“The PPP project is 90 percent executed, but now without any investigation, without any notice, this new government under the directive of Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso demolished the building. The issue is in a court of law.”

The former governor said he has briefed the president on the matter and had petitioned Usman Alkali, inspector-general of police (IGP), with video evidence of the looting and vandalisation that followed the demolition.

He described the governor as a “stooge” to Kwankwaso, adding that one of the affected developers has sued the government, demanding compensation of N10 billion.

The former governor and his predecessor were at the Villa at the same time to see the president.

Responding to whether the issue has been resolved, the former governor said: “I know that he (Kwankwaso) is in the building. But we did not meet inside. I would have slapped him if I met him inside”.