National Leader of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has alleged that there are plots by the Lagos axis of the country to colonize Kano State and the rest of the North.
Kwankwaso, a former Governor of Kano State and a recurrent critic of the Tinubu administration’s policies, spoke at the convocation of Skyline University, Kano, where he alleged that plans are underway to redirect taxes from Kano State to Lagos State.
“Today, we are aware that the Lagos young men are working so hard to impose taxes and take away our taxes from Kano and this part of the country to Lagos,” Kwankwaso stated
“Even the telephones that we make or register here in Kano, efforts are there to take all the taxes to Lagos. Even our sons and daughters who have brought factories, many of them here in Kano and northern Nigeria, and even banks, somehow, they are forced to take their headquarters to Lagos because taxes will now have to go to Lagos,” he alleged.
The 2023 presidential candidate of the NNPP added that: “Today we can see clearly that there is a lot of efforts from the Lagos axis to polarise this part of the country…Lagos would not even allow us to choose our own Emir.”
He further rebuked the Tinubu administration over the widening gap between the rich and the poor, stating that, “We have seen the efforts of some people to make the poor poorer and the rich richer, and I believe this is more dangerous.”
He called on Northerners in the National Assembly to remain vigilant, steadfast and to protect the interests of Northern Nigeria.
“At this moment, I would like to call on all our National Assembly members to keep their eyes open so that they don’t do anything that would cheat the people of northern Nigeria, especially here in Kano,” Kwankwaso urged.
Reflecting on past experiences in the National Assembly, he noted that, “We are witnesses to what happened during the first term, 1999 to 2000, where our members of the National Assembly were bribed, were treated into collecting huge sums of money to support offshore in this country.
“That law dealt a huge blow on our economy, not only here in Northern Nigeria but in all other States,” he declared.
In the meantime, the new Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development, Yusuf Abdullahi Ata, has cautioned him against “making contemptuous statements on the ongoing Kano Emirate Council legal tussles.”
He further implored him to “refrain from making statements that could deepen divisions in the country and lead him to contempt of court with regard to the Kano Emirate Council legal actions.”
Ata noted that “The issue of the Kano Emirate is still pending in court” and warned that Kwankwaso’s comments might be perceived as contempt of court.
