Kwankwaso denies making deal with Tinubu over Kano election judgement

On Friday, January 12, 2023, the apex court affirmed the victory of Governor Abba Yusuf of the NNPP as the duly elected governor of the North-West state.

The decision reversed two earlier judgements at the tribunal and appeal court that sacked Yusuf and declared Yusuf Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner.

The appeal court had upheld the decision of the tribunal to deduct 165,663 votes belonging to the NNPP candidate over claims that the deducted votes were from ballot papers that were neither stamped nor signed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Following the Supreme Court verdict, insinuations began to spread that Kwankwaso and Tinubu struck an agreement, which cleared the path for the Kano Governor to reclaim his mandate.

Reacting to the allegations, the NNPP presidential candidate said he didn't have any agreement with anyone before the judgement.

Speaking with BBC Hausa, Kwankwaso said, “What happened at the Supreme Court is a lesson for all of us. I know that I mean well for everyone. Throughout the period, I have not done anything to anyone. And anybody would reap what he sows. To the best of my knowledge, I have not reached an agreement with anybody.

“All I know is that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is my contemporary. I joined politics at the same time as him in SDP. Then he was a senator and I was serving as the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives. In 1999, he was my colleague as the governor of Lagos State.

“We founded the APC together and we participated fully in the struggles which followed up. People should know that a lie has a short life. Despite the machinations those people staged, the judges have done what is right.

“There is no problem. They have their party; we have our own. We will work together where necessary. On the issue of joining the government, only time can tell.”

On his relationship with Yusuf, the NNPP leader said he would not lord himself over the Kano Governor, noting that he could only advise him.

“Kabir Yusuf is the governor. We can only advise. Even if he were a biological son, I can’t rule over him. I have given him pieces of advice even before the government came in. There are thousands of people like me. I can’t do it alone. When a governor or a president does well, the credit goes to him. If he does otherwise, the blame is directed at him.

“People misunderstand this. When I was a governor, I would pick suggestions kept by people even in dustbins. The same is on radio stations and newspapers. For everything has an appointed time. Those who succeed should be allowed to prove their worth.

“There were errors with the previous judgment, but the Supreme Court undid what the lower courts did. If it were in other climes, those who delivered the judgments in the lower courts would quit their jobs,” he added.