Political Rivals Governor Yusuf, Ganduje Exchange Pleasantries

Two years after the 2023 general election, Kano State governor, Abba Yusuf, and his predecessor, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, met face-to-face for the first time at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) on Tuesday.

The brief encounter between the two political rivals took place at the airport lounge, where they exchanged pleasantries in the presence of their aides and security details.

Dr Ganduje, who is the immediate past National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was at the airport for an inspection visit, where he serves as the Chairman of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), while Governor Yusuf was on his way to Abuja for an official engagement.

LEADERSHIP recalls that Ganduje did not personally hand over power to Yusuf after the 2023 governorship election, in which his party lost. The then Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Usman Alhaji, conducted the handover ceremony on Ganduje’s behalf.

The meeting at MAKIA marks the first public interaction between both leaders since the transition, which was followed by a series of political and legal tussles between their camps over control of the state’s political structure.