•Hashim Dugunrawa
Alhaji Hashim Dugunrawa, the chairman of the New Nigeria People Party (NNPP) in Kano State, in this interview, speaks on the capacity of his party, the 2027 general election and speculation of the national leader of the NNPP, Senator Kwankwaso, joining the All Progressives Congress (APC), reports Nigerian Tribune.
Excerpts:
What is the strength of your party today?
First and foremost, we members of the NNPP give the glory to Almighty Allah for the kind of leaders God gave us. I am talking about our mentor, Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso. From all ramifications, he has laid a solid foundation for his followers to build on.
You will recall that Senator Kwankwaso’s “baby project” is education, and he has continued to give it the highest consideration. Therefore, the state governor, Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf, who happens to be his carbon copy, has equally not rested on his oars in laying on this foundation built by his mentor.
From the assumption of office, Governor Yusuf’s primary objective centred on how to boost the educational sector. That was the reason he has been building schools, embarking on the renovation of others, procuring textbooks, and providing desks and tables for primary schools and tertiary institutions.
Aside from that, his government has been sponsoring graduates for their postgraduate and Master’s degrees in their various fields of knowledge. As it is well known that the state is an agrarian society, his government has been providing fertilisers at subsidised prices, thereby making life easier for the farmers to boost their farming, paving the way for foodstuff to become cheaper.
Governor Yusuf has not only been paying the minimum wage to workers but ensures that civil servants get their salaries not later than the 25th of every month, while also making sure the workers are given whatever is due to them, without going on strike. He provided free transportation for the girl-child to go to school, and this has increased girl-child enrolment in secondary schools.
Pupils in primary school are enjoying school uniforms and free meals. This has equally assisted parents in sending their children to school.
What do you believe are the factors that will sway voters in the next elections in Kano State and why?
I do not want to boast because I am not Almighty Allah who can predict tomorrow. As a Muslim, one must always do things according to religion because all powers belong to God.
However, this is not difficult, going by the way the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) government — I mean the state governor, Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf, popularly known as “Abba Gida Gida” — is running the affairs of the government in a very unique and transparent manner. You can see that within a short time, our government was able to settle over N27 billion out of N48 billion of pension and gratuities inherited from the previous government.
Within a short time, in spite of battling with different court cases, economic crises, and what have you, Governor Yusuf was still able to put smiles on the faces of affected retired civil servants by paying the huge amount of N27 billion. This is an indication that the man came to rewrite the wrongs and is determined to make life easier for people in the state.
To what extent do you feel the impact of the federal government is going to have on the 2027 elections in Kano State?
In governance, it is the people who will determine whether a government has performed, and it is that yardstick the voters will use to judge and cast their votes for or against.
However, you will recall that Senator Kwankwaso recently came by road from Abuja. While passing through Kaduna, he saw how deplorable the roads are. He then felt that the work being done by the Federal Government in terms of road construction has not had a positive impact in the North. As a person who hails from the North, he felt that there is more concentration on road reconstruction and rehabilitation being done in the Southern part of the country than in the North.
Let us be fair and say the real fact: if not for the votes President Tinubu recorded in this zone during the last election, he would not have won the election, hence, the need for him to be fair and just to the people.
What we assume is that if President Tinubu gives certain things to some areas, it has to be replicated in other zones. Though as human beings, things cannot be the same; at least let other zones see that something is being done in their areas.
Because of the deplorable roads he saw, Senator Kwankwaso decided to voice out. Though he commended the federal government on what it has been doing, adding that the federal government is working tirelessly, he noted that going by the execution of infrastructure from Lagos to Calabar (the coastal road), he believes that if not for a government with commitment, such a gigantic project could not have seen the light of day.
He, however, believes that this government should continue with projects inherited from the previous administration of the late President Muhammadu Buhari.
Senator Kwankwaso decided to voice out by calling the attention of President Tinubu in this regard. Most of these roads had contracts awarded in the past, but painfully, till now, they have not been completed. Hence, the need for Senator Kwankwaso to call on President Tinubu’s attention — maybe he doesn’t know, or he is unaware, or maybe he was misinformed.
Being his age-long friend, he decided to call his attention to do the needful. The question is: is it a crime for Senator Kwankwaso to have spoken out?
What many people do not understand is that if Senator Kwankwaso did not have passion and love for President Tinubu, he could have remained silent and used it as a campaign strategy to whip up political sentiments during the electioneering campaign. But he decided not to do so and resolved to call the attention of Mr President, who happens to be his age-long friend — because if he finishes the projects, it will be to his credit.
They were friends, both governors of their respective states, and they were also Senators together at the Red Chamber. Therefore, there is no love lost between them, and a friend in need is a friend indeed.
Nothing is wrong with a good friend advising another. They have been together for more than three decades. How can somebody come overnight to put asunder between them or create problems? Both of them are mature. They know what they are doing. To my belief, President Tinubu has high regard for Senator Kwankwaso.
Did the former National Chairman of APC, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, not come from Kano? Has he not passed through all those roads and seen how deplorable they are? Why can’t he draw the attention of Mr President to address them?
Are there no governors in Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Zamfara, or Sokoto states? Have they not been passing through those roads? Why are they not talking or writing letters to inform Mr President about these deplorable roads?
But it happened to him by coincidence, and he called the attention of President Tinubu. Now the enemies of democracy are reading political undertones into the issue. Has Kwankwaso done something wrong at all? To me, no!
What is your take if Kwankwaso moves to APC?
All these questions people have been asking me several times, because they have been anxious, panicking, and tense, which is not proper.
Let me give an example: if you are going to a town about ten kilometres away, and while you are just one kilometre in, you start contemplating what is happening over there, or you are going to a riverside almost ten kilometres away, and while still one kilometre in, you begin pulling off your trousers, it means you are deceiving yourself.
What I am trying to say, in a nutshell, is: when we reach the bridge, Almighty Allah will show us how to cross it. It is not yet time — let the time come. Time will tell.
Assuming an election took place in Kano State today, is your party not jittery about the African Democratic Congress (ADC) defeating the NNPP?
What is ADC? Have you seen any symbol of the party in Kano? Or have you seen any serious-minded personalities from Kano joining the ADC? You have been in Kano for more than 30 years — have you seen its presence here in Kano?
Even the so-called APC does no longer exist in the state — how much more the mushroom coalition called ADC? We have only the NNPP, because the leader of the NNPP is in Kano.
Let me also tell you: for now, the NNPP will sweep votes in all seven states of the North West, going by the way things have started taking shape. Don’t you see how people are starting to romance with our party? Because they believe, and are convinced, that the party is out to rewrite the wrongs done by previous political parties.
People are accepting, identifying with, and romancing with our party. And we, too, are reaching out to the people — and we thank God for that.
