Former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and immediate past Governor of Kano State, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has said Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso and his followers would be received as “madmen who returned to their vomit” if they defected to the ruling party.
According to him, Kwankwaso had repeatedly ridiculed the APC and once said only a madman would join the party.
“We too have heard these rumours, but we don’t take them seriously. In democracy, there’s little difference between a fake cleric and a thief. Kwankwaso once said only a madman would join APC. He even mocked President Tinubu when he was contesting, claiming Tinubu only developed Lagos. Now they want to return. If they come, we’ll welcome them as madmen who swallowed their vomit,” Ganduje said in a BBC Hausa interview monitored in Kaduna on Saturday.
On the possibility of reconciliation with Kwankwaso and former Governor Ibrahim Shekarau, Ganduje said it was not out of place, noting that the three of them have governance experience to guide the current administration if unity becomes necessary.
Turning to his successor, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, Ganduje described his administration as a “government of vendetta and cluelessness,” accusing it of wasting resources and lacking direction.
“When I took over power, I never wasted time probing my predecessor. Governance doesn’t end with one administration. But Abba Yusuf started his government with probes. Tell me, what have they uncovered?
“They’ve received more money in six months than my administration saw in eight years. Yet what have they achieved? This government has no grip on governance. It’s like comparing a messenger with a permanent secretary,” he said.
He further alleged that Yusuf’s administration spends recklessly on projects without value for money, describing it as “a government of bandits, clumsy and confused.”
On his removal as APC National Chairman, Ganduje said it was a matter of zoning and political rotation, stressing that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu did not wrong him.
“The President did not wrong me. Leadership is by God’s will; He gives it to whom He wants at any time,” he said.
Ganduje also dismissed claims that the APC was shrinking, saying the ruling party remains the largest political platform in the country despite some defections.