Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano State has expressed displeasure over last Monday’s meeting between his predecessor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in Paris, France.
This is contained in a leaked audio conversation between the governor and Ibrahim Kabiru Masari, Tinubu’s vice president place holder before the nomination of Kashim Shettima, now vice president-elect.
It was however gathered that Ganduje was consulted by Tinubu before his meeting with Kwankwaso, presidential candidate of the the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).
The first director general of the Tinubu Presidential Campaign Management Council and a member-elect of the House of Representatives under the NNPP, Abdulmumin Jibrin, debunked Ganduje’s claim.
Jibrin, a close ally of Kwankwaso who was part of the meeting in Paris, told journalists that Ganduje informed him of the matter before the Paris meeting.
Jibrin also confirmed that the governor told him that his only issue with Kwankwaso is how he always attacked him at every given opportunity.
“They were friends for decades but I personally told the governor that he is guilty of same and they can sort things out themselves while promising to convey his message to Kwankwaso,” Jibrin stated.
In the leaked audio which went viral on social media yesterday, Ganduje was heard blaming Tinubu for not inviting him and his camp to the meeting, even if it was symbolic.
But Jibrin debunked the claim, saying the governor is economical with the truth.
“Ganduje personally informed me that president-elect, Bola Tinubu, consulted him about the meeting and asked whether he has an objection but he told him NO. It is therefore unfair for Ganduje to try to portray the president elect in a bad light,” Jibrin added.
Below is the complete transcript of the conversation between Ganduje and Masari:
Ganduje: Hello
Ibrahim Masari: Your Excellency
Ganduje: How is work and everything? How is Abuja
Masari: Glory be to God, I just came into Abuja
Ganduje: Kano is all over with noise.
Masari: Excellency, I told you what is going on, but you denied it. What should I say? I told you what’s happening, but you deny it by expressing your suprise over it. How would this be happening, and so on? I kept mute.
Ganduje: Even if I heard it, there is nothing I can do about it. Isn’t it?
Masari: But you can speak to him at that time; you can call him and talk to him.
Ganduje: To tell him what? I can’t do anything since Kwankwaso is an alternative for us. There is no problem.
Masari: It doesn’t reach that stage. That’s impossible
Ganduje: Because we don’t have government.
Masari: Are you coming on Thursday?
Ganduje: It’s because of him that we lose reelection.
Masari: You should be patient. Even your enemies know that he wasn’t fair to you.
Ganduje: The right thing is that even if he will grant Kwankwaso audience, it should be in our presence. We should be invited. Did you understand? Even if it is symbolically…
Masari: Excellency, you should be patient. I wish you a safe journey
Ganduje: Everything is in the hand of God
Masari: You’re right
Ganduje: All these calculations
Masari: They are very wrong. Everybody will be scared to work with him
Ganduje: This man did not end well with Jonathan. He gave him work but ended up painting the government as corrupt.
Masari: Yes, you’re right
Ganduje: Because he wasn’t allowed to partake in corruption, it’s not a matter that he was clean.
Masari: What brought the issue of he is clean? The truth of the matter is that they weren’t fair to you. You should just be patient but leave it until you arrive.
We’ve started the discussion, he called me and I told him that Mr. President, you’re wrong. He said, “What have I done again?” He started explaining to me that it was SLS and Chagaury that led them and so on. I asked him whether he had spoken to you, and he said no. Is he seeing these things… leave it until you come; you know this conversation on the phone.
I wish you a safe journey. You should just keep mute as you did; maintain your maturity by not speaking on the matter
Ganduje: What securities informed me is that they want his intervention to scuttle the case at the tribunal
Masari: There is that game plan. It’s not his right. You have that right, Excellency.
Ganduje: He’s not showing interest over the matter.
Masari: Excellency, you should let this matter go; I don’t like these conversations on the phone. Allow it. When you come tomorrow or next tomorrow, then we sit down and discuss. If the need arise, we can call him.
Ganduje: When is he coming back?
Masari: Wallahi, I don’t know; we have spoken; not that good, and I even showed him my anger.
Kano Govt Cautions Against Mischievous, Exaggerated Publicity
Meanwhile, the Kano State government has described as mischievous attempt by social media and online publications in the country to lift a story from the said phone conversation between Governor Ganduje and Ibrahim Kabiru Masari on his political relationship with president-elect, Tinubu.
The state commissioner for Information and Internal Affairs, Malam Muhammad Garba, in a statement issued yesterday, stated that the exaggerated publicity on the purported audio clip was the handiwork of paid agents trying to upturn the so-called ‘conversation’ with a view to causing disaffection between the two political gladiators.
He explained that from all indications some people who are not comfortable with the long cordiality Tinubu, Ganduje and Masari enjoy are bent on exploiting the situation to their advantage.
Garba also maintained that the governor and the president-elect have since realised this mischievous attempt to cause disaffection between them, and would not allow the “sound working relationship which has been waxing stronger, particularly at this critical time to be destroyed by some self-centered individuals.”
The commissioner called on members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the general publics to disregard reports on the phone chat and remain calm and loyal to the party to ensure the successful inauguration of the President-elect.
Nothing Wrong With Tinubu’s Alliance With Kwankwaso, Say APC Stalwarts
Reacting to the meeting between the president-elect and the presidential candidate of the NNPP in Paris currently raising dust in the party, an APC stalwart, Senator Ayo Arise, said there is nothing wrong in reaching out to members of opposition party.
He said, “I do not see anything wrong in reaching out to members of the opposition party, particularly friendly opposition, Kano and Lagos are very strategic, very strategic states for any leader to leave in the hands of the opposition.
“Having said that in the likes of Ganduje, it is the question of threat, taking over leadership in Kano which I believe might not be welcome at this time.
“I will be looking at it as the president -elect settling those who worked for him directly. The reaction is not unusual, the fact that the president elect has reached out, he must have reached out to other members in the opposition and those who worked somehow for him to get elected.
“There is always the issue about the people who have worked very hard to get the result that we got in the APC. They will find it a little bit threatening to embrace the so-called new comers. If Kwankwaso wants to work with the president-elect, that is a welcome development.
“Right now he is joining the APC; it is not going to change the result. That can be a preparation for the future, to provide an easy landing for APC in the future.’’
Another chieftain of the party, Senator Gbenga Kaka, said, “There is something you have to get clear that I am not a member of any executive. I am not a member of the national executive or national working committee. So, I could not have had the knowledge of the working of the party.
‘’Be that as it may, in politics it is free entry and free existence. That is why in Nigeria we do not have ideological orientation. You have people moving from one political party to the other. So, if it happens that Kwankwaso wants to join the party, he is at liberty to do that, and if it is a working alliance, I don’t think anybody will see somebody that will assist in achieving a goal and then he will turn it down.
‘’That is not to say dirty politics should be encouraged whereby those who did the job will be relegated for those who are just coming into the party.
“In effect what I am saying is that all -inclusiveness in government administration should not be evacuated to mean the exclusion of the original owner, while we are trying to include the others. Those who are coming could be included but not to the detriment of the existing membership who actually worked for the party. Otherwise it causes a sort of dislocation in the party structure. Of course disconnection will result thereafter.
‘’So, for stability there should be a good way of working out the best to accommodate those who may so wished to join the party.’’
