Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso of Kano state has said he is too big for the impeachment tricks and antics of President Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He said ruling party tried to induce the legislature to impeach but their cynical plan was dashed by the people of Kano.
“They have been trying and that you are aware of. They came here and collected all the principal officers and other members of the state House of Assembly; not because they stole anything, but because they didn’t want us to pass the budget. The EFCC came dead in the night and started collecting them like criminals, they took them to Abuja; and we followed them, there was just no question, nothing. At the end of the day, I don’t know what happened, they granted us bail and the case is still in court,” he said.
“It is not that they stole money. I have never seen this kind of thing anywhere, where authorities come to the state, to collect people in the night, I am talking about elected state legislators.
He noted that PDP did not stop at that. “Just recently, we have the same case, after we joined the APC, they came with one ‘hawk’. I think he is from Kebbi, he was calling them to his house you know Kano is a great state, we want people to come and settle in Kano, but many of them are trying to become enemies but we don’t mind because Kano is so attractive.
He then quizzed the motive of the person he referred to as a ‘hawk’. “If you are from Kebbi, why can’t you go there and talk about Kebbi, why don’t you go there and start talking about Kebbi. Maybe because Kebbi is so small that you cannot talk about it. They are here creating all sorts of trouble.”
“They are meeting in his house discussing all sorts of things; but God so kind by the time they started the meeting, they were already celebrating and they told Abuja that they have gotten the Speaker and majority of the APC executive. PDP now has the legislature thinking that because they got the principal officers and gave them money, everybody will follow.
“By the time I called them, we had meeting on a Friday which ran into Saturday. And by Sunday, they came from Abuja and put them in the aircraft but to their surprise by Monday morning, I told them to go and declare that instead of 31 members for APC, we were now having 34! So, they have been trying, but we are politicians here and we have been in the game.”
He then said: “I have been here, I have been there, I have been all over; and I have some doses now, dose you know. I will this dose when necessary and I believe all politicians in my position do the same.
“Even General Buhari have said what I want to say now, that I have never seen a situation like this where the biggest beneficiary of this democracy are the ones destroying it. You ask me who is happy? I should be one of them, my people should be all happy, we have performed, we have done so many things that can enable us to be happy but unfortunately, we are not happy because of what they are doing.
“Politics should not be seen as enmity, politics should not be seen as something that you have to destroy this or that. The very forces that they used in Ekiti, they used in Adamawa, which they are now using in Nasarawa, I am sure they want to try it again in Osun. These are the forces that they should have been using in the North-eastern states.
“On Ekiti election day, the whole state was taken over and dominated. I don’t think Ekiti is as big as Sambisa Forest, you go and dominate there, why are you dominating an innocent state? And what they don’t know is that the party taking seats by force from other states does not give them automatic success in 2015. In this state in 2011, I had no one counselor, I had no one local government chairman, I had no commissioner, I had no governor, even our friends who were suppose to help us from Abuja, didn’t believe in us, but we won election.
“So, if you take Ekiti, you go and take Nasarawa, you are forcing everybody does not guarantee victory. And there was an advertisement on NTA which made me very angry. It showed the Commander-In-Chief smiling by this their transformation agenda ambassadors. These are faceless organisations with backing of the headquarters in the Villa. They are faceless, who are they? tell me, the Commander-In-Chief?
He then questioned the credibility and independence of the military. “I use to know the credibility of the Nigerian military. I use to know how much they were respected even outside the country but now, where is their respect. I am happy Rochas Okorocha is also advertising his own achievements. Tell me what the Commander-In-Chief is doing. Things that we have not seen on ground, we are already seeing it on television, courtesy of technology.
“I hear some people wanted to do one-million-match in Abuja, I can do 10-million match in Kano. What is one million? Maybe, somebody advised them and it didn’t take place; because I had wanted to do 10 million match in Abuja, take over and dominate everywhere.
