Ganduje’s Ex-media Aide Dumps APC

Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano

Former Director General, Media and Communications to Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, Salihu Tanko Yakasai, has announced his defection from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

In a press conference in Kano yesterday, Tanko-Yakasai said he laboured for the actualisation of the ruling APC since 2013, but the party had failed in all ramifications.

According to him, the failure of APC manifested since its first tenure, but all “thought in 2015 would usher in the leadership that will answer the cry of millions of Nigerians for good government, social stability, and material prosperity.”

 “By 2019 we reelected the APC, again, to manage the affairs of the country with the hope that its first term of four years was not enough to clear the mess it inherited from the defeated PDP administration.

“Regretfully, the trust and confidence we reposed in the APC (the government as well as the party) on two occasions (first and second terms) was betrayed. If anything, things became worse in the second term. 

The benefit of the doubt we gave the party in the first term vanished as we moved deeper into the second term,” he said.

Tanko-Yakasai also criticised those in power under the APC platform, saying that they do not see themselves as having failed Nigerians.

“On the contrary, they perceive themselves as performing excellently. They douse themselves in self-praise, self-congratulations, and self-centred behaviour in public office. Many people in this country will rightly see their conduct as delusional.

“But the privileged ones in office today hardly notice the reality surrounding the lives of ordinary citizens: No food, no potable water, no stable power supply, no jobs for the youth, no regular salary for public servants, no pensions and gratuity paid; no respect for government agreement with university teachers; no control over inflation, no security of life and property, and no defeat of the stubborn insurgency in the north-east, with petroleum theft in the south-south becoming an existential threat to the entire nation,” he said.

“I made several attempts to highlight some of these failures from the inside, but unfortunately amends were not made, and those in power were averse to my corrective steps. Consequently, l was suspended from office in October 2020, arrested and sacked from my position in the Kano State Government in February 2021.

“I have therefore, reached a point in my life where I have decided to embark on a new political journey to ensure that I stick to my beliefs and principles. It is in this light that, after due consultation with my political mentors, constituents, friends and family, I resolved to exit the APC. My membership of the party ceased from today, 21st March, 2022.

“In the interim, I will take a few weeks to further consult, reflect and digest the political terrain, before deciding on my next line of action,” he said.

He, however, said he did not have an issue with governor Ganduje, saying “my relationship with him is not a boss/aide relationship, it is father/son relationship.”

“I cannot end this exit message, without thanking the Governor of Kano State, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, for believing in me, and giving me a platform in his government for over five  years, to serve my state as the Director General Media and Communications, and later as his Special Adviser on Media.

“Finally, I will continue to live by my mantra of ‘ZeroTension’, believing as Surah 9 Verse 51 of the Holy Quran states:,”

“Nothing will ever befall us except what Allah has destined for us. He is our Protector.”

Yakasai was suspended by governor Abdullahi Ganduje in 2020, before the governor finally sacked him in February 2021 for criticizing the APC government.