Doguwa Tackles Kwankwaso, Says He Hasn’t Recovered from 2023 Defeat

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Hon. Alhassan Doguwa, has replied to the statement by the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in the 2023 general election, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, that Nigerians would vote out the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 polls.
Kwankwaso, while speaking at a political gathering in Kano on Thursday, said Nigerians, especially northerners, were tired of the APC and would change it in the 2027 presidential election.

Reacting in a statement issued in Abuja yesterday, Doguwa said Kwankwaso was yet to recover from the defeat he suffered at the hands of President Bola Tinubu during the 2023 presidential election.
According to him, the former Kano State governor was hallucinating about the 2027.
Doguwa, who represents Tudun Wada/ Doguwa Federal Constituency of Kano State, said Kwankwaso should stop the hallucinations and face his imminent retirement from the political scene in 2027.

“At a political gathering on Thursday, my colleague in the House of Representatives in the 3rd Republic, Kwankwaso, took his hallucination to the moon when he said Nigerians are tired of APC and will change it in 2027. As we all know, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not leaving any stone unturned in his quest to return our country to the path of progress and prosperity for the benefit of all,” he said.
Doguwa said President Tinubu took over the mantle of leadership in the country 16 months ago when the economy was in terrible shape in all spheres.
He said that since assuming office on May 29, 2023, President Tinubu has been working genuinely to correct the fiscal misalignments, the bane of the country’s economic downturn.

Under President Tinubu, Doguwa said the country has attracted foreign direct investments worth more than $30 billion in 16 months.
He said President Tinubu has paid a forex backlog of $7 billion and cleared the ways and means of over N30 trillion he inherited from the last administration.
“President Tinubu reduced the debt-service ratio from 97 per cent to 68 per cent and kept our foreign reserve at $37 billion. Only this week, the Economic Stabilisation Bills have been transmitted to us in the National Assembly to stimulate our productive capacity and create more jobs and prosperity in the country,” he said.

In the area of security, he said the government had eliminated over 300 Boko Haram and bandit commanders, including Kachalla Halilu Sububu, who terrorised the people in Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina and Kaduna states for over five years.

“A fresh air is already permeating the North-west, given the onslaught against these bandits. Our people are now returning to their farms. We pray for a bumper harvest. We are also grateful to Mr. President for establishing the North West Development Commission to hasten up the reconstruction and rebuilding of our geopolitical zone, which is the food basket of our country,” he said.

He expressed optimism that in a few months, the hardship being faced in the country will fizzle out as the president’s numerous interventions bear fruits.

He urged Kwankwaso to free and stop remote- controlling the Kano State governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf.