The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has commended President Buhari for initiating programmes aimed at alleviating poverty in the country.
Sanusi gave the commendation when Buhari visited him while on a campaign tour on Thursday in Kano.
“Programmes like the N-power and TraderMoni where small traders across the country are given N10,000 each, can go a long way in boosting the country’s economy,” he said.
The Emir also called on the President to initiate more of such programmes so as to ensure the well-being of all citizens.
He also commended the Federal Government for introducing the school feeding programme, saying that the gesture had encouraged more parents to enrol their children in school.
According to Sanusi, the Emirate Council will continue to remind government on issues relating to well-being of Nigerians whenever the need arises.
Earlier, Buhari said his visit was not only to seek for re-election, but to also commend the people for their tireless support for his administration.
“I am in Kano not to tell the people what we are doing to develop the country, but to remind them on the need to perform their civic responsibilities by voting the right candidates. This is because I believe they are aware of what we are doing,” he said.
President denies shielding associates from prosecution
In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Thursday, the President dismissed criticisms suggesting that his association with Ganduje was a smear on his anti-corruption stance.
The statement said some high-profile persons, including a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, and a former governor he did not mention, were being prosecuted for corruption.
The Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme, Prof. Usman Yusuf, was also cited as another government official serving administrative leave to pave the way for investigation into corruption allegations levelled against him.
“Despite some of the suspects being close to the President, he had not shielded them from investigation, administrative suspensions and prosecution,” the statement added.
Specifically on Ganduje, the Presidency said “as a sitting governor, (he) enjoys immunity from prosecution in his own right.
Nigerien govs presence confirms voter register is compromised – SDP
The Social Democratic Party said the presence of the foreign governors at Buhari’s rally only confirmed the opposition’s claim that the nation’s voter register contains names of foreigners.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Alfa Mohammed, said this in an interview with one of our correspondents on Thursday.
He said, “When you see representatives of foreign government attending a re-election campaign rally of a candidate in another country, it shows desperation of such foreign government to do everything possible to help influence votes in favour of its prepared candidate.
“In other words, the open show of commitment to Buhari’s re-election by the two governors from Niger Republic is a confirmation of the long time held allegation that a large chunk of the names contained in the voter registers in some of Nigeria’s border states belong to foreigners.
“It therefore suggests that most of the crowd we see in the APC rallies in Kano, Katsina and other border states are mixture of Nigerians and foreign citizens. That indeed amounts to driving election rigging to the ‘Next Level.’
“Be that as it may, the opposition by this revelation have been sensitised to expect and be ready to fight foreign influence during the election, especially in the form of hiring and importation of foreign commercial voters.
“The role of the Nigerian Immigration Service in this form of cross-border electoral malpractice needs to be investigated. It is therefore very unfortunate that the same government that is warning the UK and the US against interference in our election is busy inviting vulnerable foreign governments to come and help it fight the opposition in the election.”