A chieftain of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Buba Galadima, has claimed that former President Muhammadu Buhari played a decisive role in ensuring that Abba Kabir Yusuf emerged as Governor of Kano State in the 2023 elections.
Galadima, who is the secretary of the NNPP Board of Trustees, said Buhari intervened to prevent the party’s victory from being taken by the All Progressives Congress (APC), as he alleged happened in the 2019 polls.
Speaking on Arise News, Galadima stated that Buhari, contrary to public perception, was instrumental in safeguarding the NNPP’s mandate in 2023.
“Unknown to many Nigerians, it was General Buhari who took our victory in 2019 and gave it to Ganduje,” Galadima said. “General Buhari was also the architect of making Abba Kabir Yusuf the governor of Kano State.”
He alleged that while Buhari allowed the NNPP’s mandate to be taken in 2019, he refused to permit a repeat in 2023, insisting that Yusuf’s victory be upheld.
“God worked through Buhari to make sure that the victory we obtained was not stolen in 2023, as they allegedly did in 2019,” he said.
Galadima further claimed that Buhari’s decision was influenced by his strained relationship with former Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje.
“It was Ganduje, using his own words, who abused Buhari,” Galadima alleged. “Even though Buhari took our victory and gave it to him in 2019, he later insulted him indirectly by calling him Abuna Abu.”
He explained that “Abuna Abu” is a derogatory term popularized in a song by the late Hausa musician, Alhaji Muhammadu Shata, describing a reckless drunkard.
“That was who Ganduje referred to without mentioning Buhari’s name, and Buhari felt bitter,” Galadima said.
According to him, when attempts were allegedly made to overturn Yusuf’s 2023 victory, Buhari resisted.
“Buhari put his foot down and said, ‘That boy won the election in 2019; we took it away. Now he has won again; give him his victory,’” Galadima stated.
He also made allegations of judicial intimidation during the 2019 election litigation, claiming that judgments were manipulated and courts pressured.
“They abducted tribunal members, brought them to Abuja, and gave them a written judgment,” he alleged. “We lost at the Court of Appeal after intimidation. At the Supreme Court, three out of five justices said they would not cause a bloodbath in Kano.”
Galadima said the courts and Buhari eventually ensured justice prevailed in 2023.
“This time, there could be no alibis to injustice,” he said. “Abba Yusuf was made governor of Kano through the processes of the court and through the assistance of Buhari.”
He concluded by warning against relying on political power rather than divine justice, saying, “This means that God was at work. Anybody who thinks power can override God’s justice is making a grave mistake.”
Recall that after Gov. Yusuf’s defection to APC, he fell out with Rabiu Kwankwaso, the former governor of the state.
Recently Kwankwaso declared that Yusuf may have lost his re-election bid after Ganduje raised his hands as APC leader.
