Birds of a feather: Abba Yusuf, Ganduje, and the rot we reward

By Faruk Ahmed

Do birds of a feather not flock together?

Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf's defection back to the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) has left me reeling in pain. This is not because I am a diehard Kwankwasiyya fan. No. I had even predicted this happening almost a year ago.

What breaks my heart is that Nigerian politics, as usual, is now bereft of any discourse on policies, ideologies or economics. Rather, the politicians—who behave like prostitutes—are more concerned about people. They worry, "How many bigwigs can I attract to myself or to my party?" No matter what baggage that individual might possess.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC has poached governors elected on opposition parties to his party. Today, there are at least 29 governors on the APC registers, leaving seven to the opposition. This is in addition to multiple senators, members of the House of Representatives, and state Houses of Assembly who have now all pitched their tents with the ruling party.

Is this a political genius of Mr Tinubu or an anomaly?

 

Borrowing a leaf from sane climes

Morgan McSweeney resigned recently as Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Sir Keir Starmer, because of poor judgement. Why? Because he argued for the appointment of Peter Mandelson as the UK's ambassador to the United States.

Mandelson, on his part, has since been relieved of his appointment due to his association with the disgraced financier and paedophile, Jeffrey Epstein. This misjudgement could eventually cost Starmer his premiership.

The above scenario shows what happens in sane climes where crimes, no matter how great or minute, are not condoned. But in Nigeria, known offenders and criminals are associated with, celebrated and even appointed to sensitive government posts, once political or economic benefits could be gleaned from them.

 

Birds of the same feather

Abba Kabir Yusuf, the governor of Kano State, retraced his footsteps back to the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), on whose shoulders he ran and won the hard-fought Kano gubernatorial election of 2023.

Who received him back to the APC fold? Former Kano State governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.

Yusuf's association with Ganduje—even with his dollar scam case hanging over him—is everything that is wrong with Nigerian politics. It is just the same way President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointed former governor Bello Matawalle from Zamfara State as Minister of State for Defence.

Matawalle is a man accused of aiding banditry in his own state while serving as governor. Even if he is not culpable, at least he had been confirmed as incapable of handling security matters as insecurity festered under his watch. Why should Tinubu give him the defence brief?

Here are links to Ganduje's corruption cases:

 

A weak captain?

Political and economic insiders say there are monumental corruptions taking place in Abba Kabir's government, way beyond what happened under Ganduje. Some say even if the governor's hands are not in the jar of corruption, his heart is too weak to curb them.

In reality, analysts say AKY is not the captain steering the ship of his government; that he is just a figurehead. If not, they ask, "How do you explain the governor's ignorance of N440 million being siphoned monthly out of the accounts of the 44 local government areas in Kano State?"

And today, he has undertaken a political marriage with his predecessor, Ganduje—the very man Yusuf himself accused of siphoning money meant for the state's development. What do you think will be taking place in the state afterwards?

Well, a former Secretary to the Kano State Government, Dr Abdullahi Baffa Bichi, who previously served under Yusuf, launched a scathing attack on the current administration, accusing it of gross mismanagement and corruption exceeding that of the previous government. See more details here: https://dailytrust.com/ex-kano-ssg-accuses-gov-yusufs-administration-of-corruption/

 

The godfather's shadow

I have written elsewhere about the overbearing influence of Rabi'u Musa Kwankwaso on Yusuf's government—how the former governor's refusal to step back and let his godson rule independently has become a millstone around AKY's neck. That piece, written in 2024, now reads as prophecy.

Kwankwaso, for all his achievements in education and infrastructure, risks becoming Alex Ferguson—the larger-than-life ghost haunting every coach after him—rather than Arsene Wenger, who retired quietly and let his successors succeed or fail on their own terms.

Until Kwankwaso learns when to stop, his godson will continue to attract the arrows meant for the godfather.

 

The way forward

This leadership—or lack of it—is what fuels banditry, terrorism and kidnapping. When corruption is rewarded with high office, when accused criminals are embraced for political convenience, what message do we send to the young?

Nigerian politicians are of the same stock. Just like chickens, they fight during election season. But they always come back home to roost once in office.

Tinubu entertains Matawalle because he needs his votes—even with allegations of terrorism funding hanging around the man's neck.

 

Four questions for the road

  • Is Nigeria turning into a one-party state?
  • Has Governor Yusuf jumped from a frying pan into fire?
  • Is he dining with the devil with a long spoon?
  • Is it time to send AKY packing?

Nigerians are watching. And Nigerians will remember.

 

Faruk Ahmed is the Coordinator of The Nation Builders Initiative (TNBI), a civic action group focused on accountability and civic renewal. He can be reached via farukahmed1406@gmail.com

 

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