Imo State Governor and Chairman of the Progressives Governors’ Forum, Hope Uzodimma, on Thursday, said Kano State is important to the political fortunes of the governing party, the All Progressives Congress.
Uzodimma did not deny a PUNCH report which revealed that President Bola Tinubu has directed the APC chapter of Kano to reconcile with the governing party in the state, the New Nigerian Peoples Party.
Rather, he told State House correspondents that “Kano is not only important to APC but to Nigeria, so it’s an important state for all of us. NNPP is a political party. The APC is a political party. The most important thing is the interest of Nigerians and the people.”
Exactly one week ago, President Tinubu held closed-door talks with a delegation comprising the leadership of the Kano State Chapter of the APC at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.
Leading the delegation was the APC Chairman and former Kano State Governor, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, who arrived at the Villa in the company of his one-time deputy and the party’s candidate in the March 18 governorship election, Nasir Gawuna.
The meeting came barely a week after the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Gawuna’s main opponent, Abba Yusuf of the NNPP, as the duly elected governor of the Centre of Commerce.
Last March, power in the northwestern state shifted from the APC when Gawuna polled 890,705 votes, falling behind Yusuf, who the Independent National Electoral Commission declared the winner with 1,019,602 votes.
However, the APC candidate contested the results in court despite conceding defeat earlier.
Although the outcome of Thursday’s closed-door talks was not made public, our correspondent reliably gathered that the President had instructed them to return to Kano and make peace with the ruling NNPP to move the state forward.
The NNPP was the fourth contender in the February 2023 presidential election when it fronted former Dr Rabiu Kwankwaso, a former Kano State Governor, who dealt APC’s Tinubu a humiliating defeat in the state.
Asked about the reconciliatory move, the IMO Governor said “Government is one and no matter the political party you belong to, we are one.
“At the end of the day what we are looking for is how to ensure that the ordinary man on the street is taken care of and there is security for all of us and the welfare of our citizens is also protected, which is the primary purpose of government.”
Uzodimma said he was meeting Vice President Kashim Shettima, to brief him on the efforts made so far to stem crude oil theft.
On December 21, the National Economic Council, chaired by the Vice President set up committees on Economic Affairs and Crude Oil Theft & Management.
Both committees are headed by Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazak and his Imo State counterpart, Hope Uzodimma, respectively.
This followed deliberations on critical economic matters and assessments of potential short-term, medium and long-term strategies for addressing pressing economic issues…at the 138th meeting of NEC which was held virtually.
Apprising journalists on the purpose of his visit, the governor said, “This is our headquarters of the federal government and the federal government belongs to the All Progressive Congress and you know I am the chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum and I have come to welcome back the vice president and you know he is the Chairman of NEC.
“I came to give him an interim briefing arising from the subcommittee on crude oil theft that I am chairing on behalf of NEC. So we had a very positive discussion. It’s still a work in progress.”
Asked about the progress of the committee against crude oil theft, he said, “We are addressing it. At the end of the day, we are going to bring a final solution to this monster called crude oil theft.”
