We’re Not Expelling Anyone from Kano, Says Ganduje

• Says Sanusi’s matter amicably resolved

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has said the state has nothing to do with the recent quit notice given to the Igbos living in the northern part of the country by some northern youth groups.

He said the state adopted a policy that would check such separatist campaign by abolishing the non-indigene syndrome adding that under the policy “everybody now is an indigene of Kano.”

When asked how Igbos living in Kano are responding to quit notice order by some northern youths, Ganduje said: “Nobody is quitting in Kano, they (Igbos) said they are not going anywhere and we too we told them that they are not going anywhere.”

The governor said Kano has been an example of national integration, even though there are some indigenes still holding primordial claims.

“So it is an issue that we in Kano want to show to be an example of national integration, therefore, in Kano we are dialoguing with the people and in fact we have even abolished the issue of indigenes versus settlers. Everybody in Kano is an indigene of Kano but there are some indigenes of Kano with primordial claim elsewhere which is a fact.”

Speaking to journalists yesterday at the national secretariat of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), after the meeting of the APC governors and National Working Committee (NWC) of the party was rescheduled, Ganduje said there was no cause for alarm regarding the tension created by the agitations.

Thee governor who also commented on the recent face-off with Emir Sanusi, said: “I’m not aware of any compromise by the state Assembly but I know that I personally wrote to them, asking them to discontinue the investigation because of so many requests by some highly placed individuals in the country.

“Clearly, the reasons were mentioned in the letter to the state assembly and was widely published in the national daily. We just had a successful Sallah celebration and it was peaceful.

Earlier, the Chairman of the APC Governors’ Forum and the Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, had told journalists that the meeting with the NWC has been postponed till tomorrow.

He explained that the reason for the shift was due to the communication gap occasioned by the long period of Ramadan holiday.