Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso
The presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in the 2023 polls, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has denied reports that he is pulling the strings behind the scenes in the Yusuf-led administration.
He addressed the rumours during a Radio France International (RFI) interview, while also talking about his time in office as a former governor.
Kwankwaso dismissed these claims as the grievances of former members of his political movement, Kwankwasiyya.
When asked about his participation in the affairs of the incumbent administration especially with regards to the ongoing demolition exercise, he said, “All that you are wasting your time. What the people want is to see work on ground. We are a team. All that is just hatred from our opposition from within who divert to the wrong lane and went astray. Ganduje has done it and succeeded.
“This demolition for us is correction and it’s something that we have been saying this since 2019 that any governor who built on schools, mosque or Badala we will not allow it.
“If you look, it is just give places that were touched. There is no any policy in the world that says you should demolish a university and build shops.”
Speaking about allocated lands along Badala to people when he was Governor of the State, he said, “In my eight years reign as governor, I didn’t give anybody one feet out of a school from primary to tertiary.
“When we were creating layouts of lands in Kano, places like Kwankwasiyya, Danladi Nasidi and the rest, we paid compensation in ten folds. People were then wishing we would demolish their houses and pay them compensation.
“The record is there, I have not given any land along Badala. I don’t have any there and never ordered one to be given to anyone. Demolition is not a waste of resources. Doing the right thing is easier and cheaper than wrong. I said it even before the campaign and everybody knows.”