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Salihu Tanko Yakasai, a former media aide to Abdullahi Ganduje, former governor of Kano and ex-chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was sacked in 2021 for criticising the ruling party’s handling of insecurity.
In this interview with TheCable’s SAMUEL AKPAN, Yakasai, who contested the 2023 Kano governorship election on the platform of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), says that although Abba Yusuf, governor of Kano, exercised his right to defect from the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), severing ties with his longtime mentor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, amounts to a betrayal.
Yakasai also speaks on national politics, including the prospects of opposition coalitions, northern disenchantment with the current administration, and the strategic positioning of major political figures ahead of the 2027 elections.
TheCable: Kwankwaso has accused Abba Yusuf of betraying him for joining the APC. Doesn’t the governor have the right to join any party?
Abba Yusuf with Kwankwaso
Abba Yusuf and Rabiu Kwankwaso
Yakasai: Abba was elected by the Kano people and has every right to decide where he wants to belong. Apart from having the right, he is on the hot seat, so he knows what is coming his way in the 2027 election. He knows the odds that are against him, particularly how the APC is becoming too powerful that nobody is willing to stand in its way. So, everybody is moving into the APC, particularly those seeking re-election.
So, as a governor who is going for re-election, I think he took all that into consideration. It’s for his political survival. Either he moves to the APC, or the APC will definitely take Kano in 2027.
But on the other hand, you cannot deny that it’s a betrayal. No matter how you look at it, you can’t sugarcoat it. A lot of people don’t understand how their relationship was. Yusuf was more like a son to Kwankwaso. For 40 years, he was under Kwankwaso’s tutelage; he was his personal assistant, the closest to him.
He stayed with him until 1999, when he became a governor and then a minister, all the way to the end, when he gave Abba the ticket in 2019, which he lost. And then again in 2023, when Abba won the election. So, you can see how that mentorship, being a godfather, spanned over four decades.
Apart from Kwankwaso, you can also see that he has also betrayed the team Kwankwaso put together to ensure that NNPP won the election, that is, the Kwankwasiyya movement.
TheCable: Where is the Kwakwasiyya Movement? Will they follow Abba or Kwankwaso?
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Yakasai: As it stands, the Kwankwasiyya Movement is divided into two. There are those who are with Kwankwaso and have declared their 100 percent loyalty to him. About five of the commissioners, some advisors, heads of parastatals and MDAs have resigned from Abba’s cabinet.
But there are those who are 100% with Abba and have made it clear that they are with him. And then, there are those sitting on the fence. They’re mostly with the governor, but they know Kwankwaso made them. And as such, they don’t want to be labelled as betrayers. They are the majority. Along the line, everyone will have to take a position. It’s either you are with Kwankwaso or with Abba. It’s just a matter of time. When the heat gets really hot, that is when everyone will find his/her square tenth.
Abba will ultimately align with the president and the APC. Kwankwaso is likely aligning with the opposition coalition, the ADC. Maybe he hasn’t made an official statement, but we have seen his body language, and it is almost obvious he is going to the opposition — whether it is ADC or another alternative he thinks is best for him.
So, I don’t think we’ve seen any betrayal at this level in the history of Kano, certainly, and most likely in the history of Nigerian politics.
TheCable: Kano had a bloc vote in the 2023 election, and the Kwankwasiyya played a role. But with this division, what do you project will happen in 2027?
Yakasai: If Atiku becomes the candidate, Kwankwaso cannot be his running mate
Yakasai: It is too early to conclude because a lot of factors will be at play before the election. For instance, Kwankwaso cannot be the presidential candidate; it’s clear that he is vying to be a running mate. One factor I always want people to consider is: who will be the candidate? Is it Peter Obi? Goodluck Jonathan’s card is still at play. Amaechi is also there, although he is unlikely to get the ticket.
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The most likely candidates from the south are Peter Obi and Jonathan if he decides to run. So, between the two, Kwankwaso is definitely the sure bet to be the running mate to whoever gets the ticket. It will be interesting to see who will get the ticket, and we also have to remember that Atiku Abubakar is there. I always say defeating Atiku at the primaries is a herculean task.
If Atiku becomes the candidate, Kwankwaso cannot be his running mate. That means the VP slot has to go to the south. So, what role will Kwankwaso have on the ticket? That is left to be seen.
These are all the factors that will determine the bloc vote. We always say in Kano politics that it is not known until the last moment because a single variable can change the equation.
TheCable: Will Kwankwaso really agree to be a running mate?
Yakasai: The calculation for any northern politician is 2031, not 2027. The south has successfully cornered the north into demanding an eight-year rule in full. Even those who don’t like the president in the south say they would rather have the president continue than have the presidency return to the north.
A lot of northerners, including Kwankwaso, el-Rufai, and the governors, know this, and they are positioning themselves for 2031. So, for Kwankwaso, if you look at his body language, he has, for the most part, brought himself down to that level of deputising. This is what he is positioning himself to be for now, and see what happens after four years or even if it is eight years, because he has age on his side.
TheCable: In 2021, Ganduje sacked you as his media aide for criticising former President Muhammadu Buhari. You knew Ganduje had suspended a commissioner for the same reason in 2020. Why didn’t you learn from history?
Yakasai with Umar Ganduje, former governor of Kano
Yakasai: It is in my DNA because of the ability to speak out on critical issues, particularly as it relates to northern Nigeria. I think it’s something that I inherited from my dad.
Secondly, I think it’s very hypocritical for us. I always say this: when we, the APC, were in the opposition back in the days of Jonathan, we did worse than what is being done today, criticising the government. Everyone old enough knows this is true. Unfortunately for us, the same issues that we were lambasting the PDP government for, insecurity, economic mismanagement, and corruption, are the same issues we see today.
The APC leaders led protests in this country because of these issues, which are not as bad as they are today. But all of a sudden, we come into power, do worse than the PDP, and then we are expected not to call out the government, especially on security.
I always talk about two to three things. First and foremost is the issue of security, which is the responsibility of any government. If any government fails to secure us, it is of no use. The second one is equity and fairness. You cannot prioritise one section of the country over another. We saw this a bit during the Buhari government. We are seeing more of it now.
The third issue is infrastructure. I travel a lot; I’ve been to 56 countries worldwide, many in Africa. I see how, over the same 10 to 12-year period, things change. If you were in Cairo a little over 10 or 15 years ago and returned today, you would see the massive infrastructure development they have achieved. Now, compare it to what is available in our own country. It is disheartening.
How can I be okay with a 400-kilometre road taking over 10 years to complete? For instance, the Kano-Kaduna-Abuja road is taking over 10 years to complete. How is that okay? How can we not speak on these issues? The Kano-Maiduguri expressway was started over 20 years ago during Obasanjo. It is still under construction. It’s just a stretch of about 500 kilometres.
These are some of the issues we raise to draw the government’s attention so that the right thing can be done. Other than this, I don’t feel comfortable being a critic. These criticisms are probably adding pressure on them to do what is right.
TheCable: Did you anticipate the dismissal?
Yakasai: I wouldn’t say I knew I was going to be suspended or sacked. I wasn’t thinking about the consequences. If you are thinking of the consequences of something, you won’t do it. What led to my sacking was speaking against the kidnapping of over 300 schoolgirls in Niger state. You cannot see that and start thinking of the consequences of calling the government to rescue these girls.
And what did I say? Every day, I occasionally go back to that post to find the harm in it. It’s still there. I haven’t deleted it. I did not insult or attack anybody. All I said was that the government’s responsibility is to protect lives and property.
The abduction had been ongoing; it wasn’t the first. There were a number of students at that time who had been kidnapped within a time frame of a few weeks or a couple of months. I knew of about four schools.
TheCable: Do you think Ganduje was under pressure from Abuja to fire you?
Yakasai: I think he did it to please the Abuja people, definitely, the presidency, because they felt as if he was the one pushing me to do these things. I find that very myopic because how will someone, a governor, ask his aide to attack the presidency?
At that time, there was friction between the president’s team and the governor of Kano state, the rift between Ganduje and Kwankwaso. Many of those around the president were aligning with both Kwankwaso and Ganduje. So, the Kwankwaso camp wanted to turn that against Ganduje.
I’ve said this several times. I totally understand why he did it. It was putting unwanted pressure on him.
TheCable: You were subsequently arrested by the DSS? What did the agency say was your offence?
Yakasai: When it comes to appointments for the Asiwaju government, it is going in one direction: south. If it comes to the north, it will go to Kogi and Kwara
Yakasai: They were trying to understand the rationale behind the post: whether I was being sponsored by foreign elements or by local opposition leaders. They really thought someone was paying me to do that. They conducted all the investigations, checked my phones, and couldn’t find anything or link me to anyone.
I’m not a rich man, so they couldn’t find billions in my accounts, or even millions to say someone was funding me. The pressure on them was actually too great at the time. I remember that even some foreign embassies were about to issue statements to call for my release. It was drawing international attention, and they just didn’t want that. I think they realised that I’m not worth all that unnecessary attention. They just had to let me go. I was not charged.
TheCable: In 2023, you ran for the Kano governorship election on the PRP platform, which is unpopular. Did you expect to win?
Yakasai: The Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) is very popular, but it lacks structure. The party is loved by the masses. When I was campaigning, I met old politicians who were part of that struggle. It really was emotional for them. So, it was a popular party.
Unfortunately, as I said, it lacked structure. There was no strong structure from the grassroots to the local government and the ward level. There were no party officers. I think when I took over, there were only six functional local government party officers in the entire state.
They were about six befitting ones. So you could see how it was in a terrible state when we took over. We couldn’t raise enough funds to put it back in shape. It was a herculean task that we didn’t have the resources to do.
TheCable: Has APC delivered on its campaign promises? Will Nigerians give it a chance in 2027?
Yakasai: We have a video of President Tinubu telling Nigerians not to vote for him if he seeks re-election without providing 24-hour electricity. Is the power better now than it was when he came to office, or is it worse? To be honest, it is worse and more expensive. What the DisCos do is to give power to band A. What is the percentage of band A users in society?
But he is running for re-election, and from the look of things, nobody can defeat him. There are many other promises. I’m not in a better financial, economic, or legal situation than I was when they took over. So, to be honest, they have failed to keep their campaign promises.
We are beginning to see some projects on the ground. They are funding some of these infrastructure projects, which we haven’t seen before, but at least now, contractors are on site, and work is ongoing.
Hopefully, if it continues, we will get to see some of them completed, but by and large, if you look at the bigger picture, they have not really delivered on those campaign promises. That’s on the campaign promises.
In terms of the second part of your question, whether he can win or not. As it is, the coalition can win, in my view, if it repeats what the APC did in 2015, when it defeated Jonathan: rally behind a single candidate. At that time, everybody knew Buhari was the candidate. Nobody was contesting that.
Unfortunately, for the coalition now, there isn’t. Even in our earlier conversation, we discussed multiple potential candidates. If you ask me, the best bet for the opposition is an Atiku candidacy.
TheCable: Why do you say so?
Yakasai: The Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) is very popular, but it lacks structure
Yakasai: The part of the country that feels neglected and betrayed is the northern part of the country, because they made the president. But when the government came in and made appointments and funded infrastructure projects, the north received nothing.
It’s now that they are getting some. But it went particularly to Lagos. So, there’s that anger, which sometimes I find funny when my southern brothers say it is the born-to-rule syndrome of the northerners, that because a southerner is in office now, they want to be in office.
They conveniently forget that Tinubu won because of the north. Even in the primary election, it was the northern governors who fought their own brothers in the Buhari presidency to say that power must go to the south for the political stability of this country. My southern brothers have completely forgotten all these battles that the northerners fought.
When it comes to appointments for the Asiwaju government, it is going in one direction: south. If it comes to the north, it will go to Kogi and Kwara. If the northeners say, “Why do you come to Kogi and Kwara and pick a Yoruba man?”, it would put us at loggerheads with our brothers. Tinubu is deliberately putting us at loggerheads with our own siblings.
This is why the north feels sidelined by the Tinubu administration. This will push them to vote against Asiwaju. The only way they can come out en masse to vote for any candidate other than Asiwaju is if Atiku is the candidate. He will secure almost all the 19 northern states. So, all he needs is just five other states from the south to get the spread that he needs.
Scenario number two: the best candidate will be Goodluck Jonathan; he has not entered the ring, and it’s not clear whether he will. But if he steps into the ring, Goodluck Jonathan will be the best candidate because he will appeal to so many groups. He only has one term. The north will be very comfortable supporting him because he only has four years to do. If you give Jonathan and Kwankwaso a ticket, the president is in trouble.
