Governor Rabiu Kwakwanso
President
Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday took on Governor Rabiu Kwakwanso of Kano
State, accusing him of embezzling the money his (President’s) campaign
office provided to mobilise the state delegates for the 2011
presidential primary of the Peoples Democratic Party and the main
election.
He said the governor deliberately
engaged in the act to make the state delegates angry and refuse to vote
for him in the primary and during the presidential election.
Jonathan said contrary to his claim, Kwakwanso did not vote for him in the 2011 presidential election.
The President made the allegations at a
PDP unity rally held in Kano to welcome a former governor of the state,
Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, into the party.
He was reacting to a media report that
quoted the governor as saying that he regretted voting for him (the
President) in the 2011 election because he had not brought any
development to the state.
The President recalled that when it was
becoming obvious that he was going to win the presidential primary in
2011, Kwankwaso and the state delegates stormed out of the Eagles
Square, Abuja venue of the election.
He argued that if the governor had voted
for him, he would have stayed back to rejoice with him alongside his
colleagues from other PDP states.
He said, “First, we read in some of the newspapers that the governor of Kano State, Kwankwaso said he regretted voting for me.
“Let me tell my good people of Kano that
Kwankwaso did not vote for me and the Vice President whether in the
primary or the main election.
“We accommodate a lot, we know so much
but we talk less. Those of you from Kano in PDP, you knew what happened
that when we entered that Eagles Square, by the time the counting got
half way and when it was clear that I was to emerge as the candidate,
Kwankwaso left the venue.
“If Kwakwanso had voted for me, he would have stayed to celebrate with me with the other governors.
“Even the little money that my campaign
office provided for refreshment of the Kano delegates and for their
transport, Kwakwanso refused to give to the delegates.
“He did that so that the Kano delegates will be angry and they will not vote for me.
“Even for the main election, the little
money the campaign office sent to Kano State to facilitate the movement
of people, Kwakwanso refused to give the money to anybody. How can
Kwankwaso tell people that he voted for me?”
He urged the people of the state to
challenge the 44 local government chairmen in the state to account for
the N255.342bn that they had collected from the Federation Account since
June 2011,
“Kano people should call all the 44
local government chairmen in the state and ask them what they have done
in Kano State from June 2011 when we came into office till today that
they have received N255.342bn.
“This money is over one quarter trillion
naira. This amount of money is the one local government chairmen and
councillors are supposed to use, somebody take this money and is
spending it.
The President again commiserated with the families of those who lost loved ones during the Nyanya bomb explosion on Monday.
He reassured them that the government would continue to do its best to make sure that peace was restored.
Attempts to get comments from the Kano
State Government proved abortive. A telephone call to the Director of
Press and Public Relations to the state governor, Baba Dantiye, was
picked and then switched off.
A response to a text message sent by our correspondent was still being awaited as of the time of filing this report.
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