US Must Correct False Notion on Kwankwaso — Network

The Kwankwaso National Network has described as “absurd, shameful and a joke taken too far” what it called an attempt by alleged government agents and lobbyists to submit the name of former Kano State Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, to the United States Congress for blacklisting.

The group’s National Coordinator, Asiwaju Moshood Shittu, in a reaction said the move to label the former governor and ex-Minister of Defence as a terrorist sponsor and proponent of Sharia was politically motivated and unacceptable.

Shittu expressed concern that the Federal Government had yet to issue an official statement on the matter, noting that the allegation affects a former governor, minister and ambassador.

He questioned why the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had remained silent, saying the absence of a formal response was raising suspicion.

“The silence of the government raises suspicion. To clear itself, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or any top government functionary must come out with a press statement to counter this submission,” he said.

Shittu maintained that portraying Kwankwaso as sponsoring terrorism through the introduction of Sharia while in office was “moral defamation” and contrary to the character of the elder statesman.

According to him, Kwankwaso’s record as governor of Kano State reflected unity, tolerance and peaceful coexistence between Muslims and Christians, adding that no breach of peace was recorded under his leadership.

He further argued that the former governor’s close relationship with former President Olusegun Obasanjo was evidence of his spirit of tolerance and national cohesion.

“It is laughable and inimical to our democratic experiment if a personality known for secularism, human capacity building and oneness could, out of hatred and political reasons, be dented in such a manner,” Shittu said.

The coordinator also clarified that the introduction of Sharia law in 1999 began in Zamfara State under the administration of Sani Ahmed Yerima, and not in Kano where Kwankwaso served as governor.

He described the alleged submission to the US Congress as unpatriotic and driven by political considerations ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Shittu added that when former US President Donald Trump labeled Nigeria as committing “Christian genocide,” Kwankwaso was among the first elder statesmen to publicly defend the country, insisting there was no such genocide.

He insisted that the United States Congress may have been misled and urged it to immediately correct what he called a false notion about the former Kano governor.

“We must learn to play politics without bitterness. Nigeria belongs to all of us,” Shittu said.