Ganduje As a Bad Market for Tinubu

Perspective

Farouk Abba

Call it a nightmare of monumental proportions, and you wouldn’t be too far from capturing what many Nigerians have been voicing in the last 48 hours. From plain indignation to absolute dismay, social media has been awash with a complete range of emotions in response to the most recent feelers from Aso Rock. No, this is not about the latest increase in the pump price of fuel. It’s about a person whom Nigerians thought they would never get to see in the corridors of power ever again.

Two days ago, The Presidency revealed in a statement that former Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje attended a meeting with President Bola Tinubu, Senate President Godswill Akpabio and the governors of Imo, Kwara, Lagos, and Ogun states to deliberate “on how to get the economy on sound footing.” This piece of information all but put paid to days if not weeks of speculations on the role the former governor is likely to play in the current government.

All along, Nigerians had been beside themselves wondering why any government would even consider associating with a character that has courted controversies for so long that, to so many, he has become the poster man for corruption in Nigeria. First, it was that the man was being considered for a ministerial position. Now, reports have it that he’s in pole position for the chairmanship of the ruling All Progressives Congress party APC.

If the presidency’s news release, which was duly supported with a photograph of the attendees, is anything to go by, those speculations may not be unfounded. And that leaves a huge question mark. 

Even before the pseudo-confirmation of those speculations, many groups and individuals have faulted the notion of handing the leadership of the APC over to Ganduje on several grounds, including the intra-party zoning arrangement that will clearly be disrupted. Beyond that, however, the larger story that such an appointment would tell is even more damning. 

Perhaps, a recollection of the highlights of Ganduje’s track record is expedient at this juncture.

First elected in 2015, Ganduje served as the governor of Kano State for two terms, after winning a second election in 2019. During his tenure, he is most remembered for the allegations of corruption levelled against him. And that’s because one of them is impossible to overlook.

It is no surprise then that many have been reliving, since Wednesday, the harrowing experience of watching a seating state governor on tape receiving bundles of dollars in bribes from a contractor in the state. The video first surfaced online on October 14, 2018. Amid Ganduje’s denial, the Kano State Assembly set up a committee to investigate the allegations. It’s been almost five years since then, and the committee is yet to reach a conclusion on the case.

Many other high-profile allegations, including the mismanagement of the state’s COVID-19 response and sponsoring a mob attack on the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, characterised his tenure. And most recently, it took the intervention of a Federal High Court to stop the Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-corruption Commission from investigating Ganduje over ‘missing’ N100 billion local government funds. 

Nigerians know all these. That’s why they are not mincing words about their stance on Ganduje in relation to public offices. Here are a few tweets from the Ganduje conversation that has trended top of the table for over 48 hours on Twitter:

“All bants and jokes aside, Ganduje will be bad business for the North and APC at large, you don’t want someone with that reputation representing you in any part of governance.” – @Waspapping.

“Why would any court stop the investigating of Ganduje over “missing N100 billion LG funds?” Does he have any immunity or is this a ploy to play delay tactics until he’s given a ministerial slot? The same Ganduje that was seen stuffing dollar bills down his agbada. Nah, Naija is one big crime scene mehn.” – @Sports_Doctor2.

“Ganduje was a Governor in Kano for 8 years but still can’t manage to keep his party members, people like Kawu Sumaila, Sha’aban Sharada, Rurum, kofa and any of them just because of his selfish Intrest, your now trying to hand over the ruling party to him. Don’t.” – @saarkinrafi

“Since I heard Ganduje is in the running for APC National Chairman, I have been worried about the future of our party, man that couldn’t manage his state, how will he manage a complex structure like APC? We shall see. – @bb_khamees

“You can be accused of corruption or whatever, and of course, you can weather the allegations or even pretend like they are not there. How people treat that is open to them. But the moment you are caught on video, the dynamics change. This Ganduje thing is a personal agenda for me. – @oddy4real

Within and outside the party, the popular disposition is clear. Many are dissatisfied and outraged over the possibility of Ganduje leading a ruling party that rode to power on the back of an anti-corruption campaign so loud that it bordered on boisterousness. And isn’t that position reasonable? You can’t say you’re fighting corruption and publicly reward people of questionable character with positions of power. 

Abdullahi Ganduje represents everything Nigerians should and desperately want to put behind them. Given the precarious state of the country’s affairs, we cannot afford to entrust someone with such a history with missing funds with any more of our commonwealth. 

And we can only hope that this administration will continue what it has started with subsidy removal by ensuring only people of integrity take sensitive leadership positions where they can herald a culture of efficiency and judiciousness for the country’s future.

Farouk writes from Abuja