Wazirin Katsina resigns from emirate council after being issued with query for criticising Buhari

WAZIRIN Katsina Professor Sani Abubakar Lugga has resigned from the Katsina Emirate Council after being issued with an official query for making comments about the spate of insecurity in the state without permission.

Katsina State is currently one of the most insecure states in Nigeria, plagued by bandits, kidnappers and armed gangs who terrorise the local populace. Despite repeated attempts by Governor Aminu Masari to broker a truce with the bandits, the problem has refused to go away and exasperated with the headache, Professor Lugga expressed his displeasure with the situation.

He was, however, issued with a query by the emirate council for making comments on issues of insecurity at a strategic management retreat organised by the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution last week. In the interview, Professor Lugga said banditry and insurgency have led to the closure of all schools and other institutions in eight local government areas of Katsina State.

Professor Lugga said that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration failed to curb insecurity in the country because he refused to use the strategy employed in 2015 by former President Goodluck Jonathan. According to him, President Jonathan’s administration used mercenaries to fight Boko Haram leaders like Abubakar Shekau, which recorded some success for the country in the war against terrorism.

He was also reported to have said that all the district heads from the eight frontline local government areas in Katsina State had relocated to the state capital. Furthermore, the Wazirin Katsina that there was no single day in the last one-and-a-half years that somebody would not be killed or abducted in the state.

Professor Lugga added: “We are really in a state of war. It is more than conflict and the situation is more than you think. Forget about what you read in the media, I am there and I know the reality.

 “There is no single day in the last two and half years that somebody will not be killed or abducted in the state. It is really a state of war; more than conflict.”

However, this did not go down well with the emirate council, which issued him a query. In a copy of his response, the professor replied to the three issues raised by the council and thereafter tendered his resignation.

One local source said: “Yes, it is true that His Highness, the Wazirin Katsina, has tendered his resignation but I want to you to know that the issues that led to his resignation were far beyond the recent happenings as a result of his talks in Ilorin. Waziri is a kind of man that would tell the truth to power, no matter how tough it is and this is not the first time he would be making comments with the intent of letting the world know the true situation but you know it is not everyone that wants to hear the truth and Waziri would sacrifice anything to protect his dignity.”

On behalf of the emirate council, the Kauran Katsina, Alhaji Nuhu Abdulkadir Rimi, confirmed the development, saying the resignation letter was received. He added that the council would deliberate on it and make a decision on the matter.