An Open Letter To President Buhari, By Kano Progressive Youth Vanguard

POLITICS DIGEST – “I won’t tolerate electoral malpractices in 2023…”

Mr. President Sir,

We are a group of concerned and patriotic citizens from Kano state that have interests in Nigeria’s political development, particularly as it affects our dear state, Kano. We wish to begin by congratulating His Excellency as you mark your 77^th birthday, may God in His infinite grace and mercy continue to bless you with good health and guide you aright.

Your Excellency, we feel obligated to write you an open letter after we read a newspaper report saying you have vowed not to tolerate electoral malpractices in the 2023 election. This commendable declaration is of paramount concern to our group because of our strong belief that the fallout of the March 9^th gubernatorial elections in Kano, its declaration as inconclusive, the violence that followed during the 23^rd March rerun, and the judgements of the election tribunal and appeal court are all said to be linked to the ambition of some national leaders of your party who are mainly from the south.

Before now,the general opinion was that the interest of the Kano electorate cannot be subverted;as evident in the fact that popular will in Kano politics always prevails asdemonstrated in the general elections of 1979, 1983, 1992, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015.Due to this antecedent, Kano was regarded as the bedrock of northern politics.  However, the buildup to the 2019 general elections and its aftermath has regrettably reversed this notion. Mr. President will attest to this fact as he has been a beneficiary of our people’s high political exposure from 2003 – 2019.

Kano citizens were anxiously looking up to the2019 general elections because itprovided themthe opportunity to do away with Governor Ganduje who made the state a laughing stock and subjectedits indigenes to a lot of embarrassment. Your Excellency, the $5million bribe videos of the Governor was not only embarrassing for indigenes of Kano; it also ridicules your high moral posture and zero tolerance for corrupt politicians. We at first thought this was disconcerting enough for Mr. President but to our dismay and disappointment your visit to Kano for the flag-off of your presidential campaign saw you holding aloft Governor Ganduje’s hand endorsing him as your candidate; by implication endorsing corruption; this is most unfortunate. In civilized societies any public official caught on tape accepting bribe from contractors on the eve of an elections will honourably resign.If he refuses, leaders of his party will advise him to stepdown. But in the case of Governor Ganduje after being caught on tape he was rewarded with a governorship ticket.

Your Excellency, the consequent effect of this decision saw Ganduje unleashing thugs into the Kano political landscape before, during and even after the 2019 general election. It is on record that theMarch 9^th general elections saw the opposition PDP in a clear lead after the announcement of results of 43 out of the 44 local government areas of the State; only results from Nassarawa LGA was left to be announced before a winner is declared. At about 2:00am in early hours of Monday, March 11^th 2019, the Deputy Governor (Nasiru Gawuna), Commissioner for Local Government (Murtala Garo), Chairman Nassarawa Local Government (Lamin Sani) arrived venue of Nassarawa LGA INEC collation centre and violently disrupted the process leading to delay in the announcement of the result and the subsequentdeclaration of the election as inconclusive. It may interest His Excellency to note that the three out of the four arrested officialsof the Kano State Government who have no immunity are still yet to be prosecuted in accordance with the electoral laws.

Furthermore, as documented in the reports of European Union Election Observation Mission and that of several other observer groups including the 2019 Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room headed by PLAC the March 23^rdsupplementary elections saw Ganduje’s administration using state resources to induce voters. This is in addition to the extensive electoral security problems witnessed as sponsored by the state government. Groups of men with weapons were on the streets intimidating and obstructing the voting process, while security agencies choose to be ineffective in protecting citizens’ right to vote. Polling units were largely inaccessible to voters, journalists, international/local observers even INEC officials that refused to compromise were denied access. This is the kind of political legacy which the Gandujeadministration introduced into the political terrain of Kano.Itwas therefore unbelievable to read your spokesperson (Garba Shehu) in a birthday felicitation messagedescribing Governor Ganduje as “a skilled politician, a party builder…”. A leader that unleash on his people such unprecedented violence cannot be described as such;in saner climes his likes belong in the dungeons.We find it hard to reconcile Mr. President’s high resent for corrupt politicians with the felicitation message. Perhaps your spokesperson was overzealous by going to press without proper vetting by Mr. President.

Your Excellency, our hopesin the judiciary have beendashedas a result of the interferences we saw in the election tribunals which have never been as obtrusive asthe dilly-dally we saw in constituting the panel of justices that sat over Kano Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, and the setup of the Appeal Tribunal and the resultant judgements delivered. One can’t but have the impression that the two panels were gandollarized.

It is on record that:

1. The Governorship Tribunal after being constituted was disbanded to pave way for a Chairperson that is from the same local government with a respondent. Also, the mother of the chairperson was a classmate to one of the respondents; Governor Ganduje.
2. Furthermore, it was also suspicious that the Tribunal Appeal Panel after its setup and communicated to both councils of the plaintiff and respondents; the panelwas curiously disbanded not once, not twice, but thrice. All of these were done under very unclear circumstances without due consideration to public perception and the fate of all the litigants. Leaving one with the impression that the President of the Appeal Court was forum shopping as apparent in the unexplained changes in the panel.

Your Excellency, the general belief now is that the true mandate of the people of Kano cannot be reinstated even in the Supreme court; as decisions of the tribunal and appeal courts have clearly been influenced by the Governor and some overbearing southern politicians that have vested interests in the upcoming 2023 presidential elections. The general belief is that Kano is too critical in the equation of the 2023 elections to be handed over to an opposition party. It is therefore relieving when we learned of your vow not to allow any politician manipulate the 2023 electoral process.

In this same spirit and commitment to safeguard our democracy, we feel obliged to point out to Mr. President that the race for the 2023 elections has already began by some over-ambitiouspoliticians mainly from south who are nursing presidential ambitions. These politicians are meddling in to the appeal of the PDP at the Supreme court, just like they meddled and influenced decisions of the tribunal and appeal courtin favour of Governor Ganduje.

Mr. President Sir, the judiciary is supposed to represent a unique position among democratic institutions that is the last bastions of participatory democracy in which disputants go directly before a judge to be resolved. It is sad that political power in Nigeria today is perceived as do-or-die affair. The practice of resorting to the law courts to resolve electoral or political disputes is today thought to be a fruitless venture, especially when the courts are perceived to be biased in favour of the highest bidder. This perception is no doubt threatening the stability of our democracy.

Mr. President, Kano people are really angry and disenchanted because you seem to have turn a blind eye to their plight. Looking away while Governor Ganduje:

• threw the APC into crises pitching members of the party against each other.
• The Governor set back the development strides that were achieved by past administrations. Such that education, healthcare delivery and empowerment of our youth have all been relegated to the background. Kano state is again said to be leading in drug trafficking and its abuse among our youth. The state has the highest number of out of school children.
• He has also brought about a big division among major Islamic scholars in the state.
• His decision to split the emirate council has plunged the state into socio-political crisis which has not been witnessed since 1981 when the then governor made the same attempt. This move has put up the royal family against each other and has introduced a new political dichotomy of “siyasar birni da kauye” in the state.

The general perception as portrayed by the Governor is that the Presidency is in full support of all of these unpopular decisions and actions. If as the presidency claims it indeed has no hand in these decisions, the question is what has Mr. President done to reprimand the Governor while he was encouraging division among the people of the state and unleashing his thugs on its citizens? To the best of our knowledge nothing has ever been done to call him to order; actually, he was rewarded with a ticket and endorsed by Mr. President himself.

The people of Kano are optimists and don’t want to believe Mr. President is in the know of Governor Ganduje’s excesses. We are thereforeonce again reposing in you our hope and confidence and taking your vow of not allowing any politician manipulate or influence elections seriously. We appeal to you and draw your attention to the general impression that the litmus test for your vow is to begin by ensuring that such imperious politicians and elected officials of the Kano state government that are bent on interfering with the decision of the Supreme Court are not allowed to alter the cause of justice.

Sir, we are of the opinion that cleansing our electioneering process should not be postponed to 2023, this exercise must commence from the 2019 elections; because what happened in Kano will be the basis upon which history will judge your stewardshipas far as elections is concerned. In any case Mr. President, by 2023 when you are preparing your final exit in a couple of months your role in tackling that election might not be as effective as you would want it to be. Therefore, the time to act is now, let us not postpone judgement day. The international community and indeed Nigerians are watching closely how the political robbery that took place in Kano on March 23^rd will playout at the Supreme court. It is not only the judiciary that is on trial here but the credibility of Mr. President in upholding popular will as against the imposition of unpopular candidates.

Be assured of our highest regards.