Tinubu denies visiting Kano in a desperate bid to get Ganduje re-elected on Saturday

ALL Progressives Congress (APC) national leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has denied allegations that he travelled to Kano to try and influence the outcome of the forthcoming supplementary elections taking place on Saturday.

On Saturday March 23, Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) will be holding supplementary polls in five states were the governorship elections were declared inconclusive. These include Kano, Adamawa, Benue, Plateau and Nasarawa states and as the polls near, the APC and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have stepped up activities to secure victories.

However, the PDP has accused Asiwaju Tinubu of travelling to Kano to meddle in the affairs of the state, adding that he visited Governor Abdullahi Ganduje during his trip. Ina  rebuttal of this allegation, Asiwaju Tinubu said he has not been in Kano at any point during the conduct of the elections.

He said that the picture of himself and Governor Ganduje of Kano that was circulating in the media was taken in 2018 when the governor visited Lagos. According to Asiwaju Tinubu, such rumours are harmful to the democracy Nigeria seeks to enshrine and goes against the progressive tradition that describes Kano’s politics.

Asiwaju Tinubu added: “These desperate politicians stir resentment of others as a way to get the support of the people. They use lies and deception as their crutch, casting me as some type of one-man political invasion intending to unduly influence the governorship election.

“For the record, I’m not in Kano and have not been in Kano at any point during the conduct of these elections. The picture that these liars are circulating is one that was taken last year when the governor visited Lagos."

According to Asiwaju Tinubu, Kano had historically stood as a bastion of progressive politics. he added that the state's brand of politics helped inspire the establishment of the APC.

“Regarding the people of Kano, I have nothing but the utmost respect and admiration.  Kano has an enlightened electorate that will vote as they believe and I hope that they will disregard the lies and rumours about me and remain faithful to their progressive tradition.

“If the people do so, then they would have voted in their best interests and that is for the APC, the party of President Muhammadu Buhari. I believe in a free and fair electoral process, a project to which I have devoted the majority of my adult life to achieve, so let this election be decided on the relative merits of the competing candidates," Asiwaju Tinubu added.