Former Kano Deputy Gov. Abubakar discloses reasons for resignation

Prof. Hafiz Abubakar

The immediate past Deputy Governor of Kano State, Prof. Hafiz Abubakar, who resigned in controversial circumstances last week, has disclosed the reasons for his action.

Abubakar, who resigned last week, said he had desired to remain in office until the end of their tenure, but chose to resign due to irreconcilable differences with the governor.

Speaking with Punch, Abubakar recalled how it all started, “My relationship with Governor Abdullahi Gandauje did not start when we contested the 2015 general elections on a joint ticket.

“In 2011, when Ganduje was elected deputy governor in the Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso administration, I was also appointed as the Special Adviser on Political Affairs to the Governor. The same year, Kwankwaso appointed me as the Commissioner for Finance. I worked in harmony with Ganduje under the supervision of our leader.

“In fact, during the 2015 general elections, we sold our candidate and the party to the good people of Kano on the campaign mantra of ‘’Continuity, Consolidation and New Projects’’ under the Kwankwassiya Movement. This presupposes that our government was an offshoot of the immediate past government, where Ganduje was the deputy governor.”

On the straw that broke the camels’ back, the ex-deputy governor said, “No sooner had we won the election than the template for the current needless crisis began to manifest. The transition committee was constituted by the Governor-elect and he surprisingly, directed that I, as the Deputy Governor-elect, should chair the committee.

“I find this strange because the governor and the deputy governor, elected on the same joint ticket are supposed to be recipients and executors of the report of the transition committee. Unknown to me and my unsuspecting party members who are loyal to me, a plot was hatched to manipulate and misconstrue the report of the committee, to create an impression that the outgoing governor, who is our leader, was leaving a huge debt burden for the incoming administration and it was to be presented, as if I, being the transition committee chairman, discovered the ‘scandal.’

“The motive was ostensibly to embarrass Kwankwaso and create a negative impression about him. It was also aimed at rubbishing the achievements recorded by his government. The ultimate target was to create an unnecessary bad blood between me and Kwankwaso.

“The sinister and mischievous moves continued unabated even after the handover, with the hawks in government, always bringing one divisive or negative tendencies, all with a view to creating the impression that our benefactor, Kwankwaso, did not mean well for the incoming government.”