Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf has blasted his predecessor, Abdullahi Ganduje, describing the latter’s eight-year governorship as “wasted.”

Mr Yusuf, through his spokesman, Sunusi Bature, said in Kano on Monday that he was not bothered by Mr Ganduje’s criticisms.

“Our eight months in office has remarkably outweighed Ganduje’s eight wasted years of political caricature and maladministration by all standards,” Mr Yusuf said.

The governor said his administration was inclined to prioritise attention to socio-economic and physical infrastructure developments for the overall well-being of the Kano people.

He urged the appropriate authorities, such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to ensure that those who embezzled the state’s monies, including Ganduje, were brought to book through legal means.

Mr Yusuf said it was unfortunate that Mr Ganduje would accuse him of diverting funds meant for the state when he was still under investigation by EFCC for looting public funds.

He also mentioned that his government would continue to probe Mr Ganduje’s eight-year tenure until it was satisfied that his hands were clean, or he would use legal means to recover public funds in his possession.

“We wish to reaffirm the present administration’s resolve and readiness to make anyone found guilty of corruption face the full wrath of the law for their intentional wrongdoings,” he stated.

Mr Yusuf urged the EFCC to complete the investigation into Mr Ganduje’s alleged stuffing of wads of dollars belonging to the state into his pocket and release its report.

He said his administration was preoccupied with offsetting the public debt of over N300 billion it inherited from Ganduje’s administration.

Mr Yusuf also stressed that he was taking the bold step of paying the backlog of pension gratuities for the state pensioners whom Mr Ganduje’s administration did not pay, in addition to other development projects it was undertaking. 

(NAN)