- A former Governor of Kano State, Senator Ibrahim Shekarau, has cleared the air over his recent meeting with the Governor of the state, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
The political space in the state became filled with speculations since Ganduje accompanied Shekarau to his house on Friday after they both attended the funeral prayers of the state’s renowned contractor, Alhaji Sani Dahiru Yakasai (SDY).
But in an interview with Radio France International (rfi), Shekarau, who is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and one of the directors of the party’s 2023 Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), described the meeting as accidental and not for political reasons.
He said there was a cordial relationship between himself and other leaders of the state, adding that he often met with many leaders, including Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).
Shekarau said, “Honestly, we met because of the death of our common friend, Alhaji Sani Dahiru Yakasai. We met at the funeral prayers which were held at the emir’s palace.
“Immediately after the prayers, we moved to the graveyard, mourning the death together in his own car. After burying the corpse, the governor held my hand and said he must finish what he had started; that was to take me back to my house.
“So, I thanked him and we moved together to my house. There is nothing like politics here. It was just an accident. We don’t have any serious grudges, we respect each other. Just like Kwankwaso, we often meet at airports, we greet and we laugh with each other.”
On whether they met with the governor behind closed doors, Shekarau said, “Oh, do you want us to leave the door open while we are discussing with him? We didn’t discuss anything political. We were just discussing the death of this man and how our lives should be.”
He further said his door was open for discussion with anybody that came to him, adding that he would never close his door to any politician that came around to discuss issues of progress of the state.
