By; RAYMOND TEDUNJAYE, Lagos
The Arewa Community in Lagos has frowned at what it described as the biased interference of the Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje in the leadership tussle rocking the group.
It therefore, called on the Director General of the Tinubu/Shettima Campaign Council, the APC Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu to call Governor Ganduje to order to save the group from being plunged into crises of unimaginable proportion, like he did in Kano State.
The group alleged that the Kano State Governor had present a report favouring a faction to the presidential candidate of the All Progressive Party (APC) Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as regards the leadership tussle without its knowledge.
In a press statement issued in Lagos by its Secretary General, Alhaji Musa Saleh, the group said Governor Ganduje should have towed the line of honour and keep his respect as a Governor, instead of going to present a false, biased, impracticable and unacceptable factional report without the knowledge of the Arewa Community in Lagos State, to deceive our Presidential Candidate even while talks were still on and thorny issues remained unresolved.
According to the statement, the group said it was shocked to see Ganduje carry one faction to Asiwaju to present a false report thereby compounding the issues instead of resolving them.
” We respect Baba Ganduje a lot. But he should be careful to not lose our trust in him. He needs to work hard to improve his trust ratings.
” We suspected foul play when, during his absence, Senator Kabiru Gaya, the Director General of the Osinbanjo Campaign Organization showed up to chair the meeting. He bluntly displayed his penchant and resolve to impose members of his Osinbajo group on us to take over the Arewa Community leadership in Lagos.
” We are confident that our Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a true democrat and that he will not accept falsification of facts. We hereby reject Ganduje’s treachery in its entirety.
” The Lagos State Arewa Community has been in existence since before the independence of Nigeria. Hence, it is impracticable to replace it with a hurry-hurry creation cloned in the last 3-months. One would be tempted to ask why the sudden interest in the forceful change of leadership with people who have never attended any meeting of the Community. Do they expect us to sack the entire leadership of the community across the 57 local Governments and Development Areas and also that of the State and replace them with a minority few? Is that the way to resolve crises or a way of creating same?
” We have held back vital some information from going public knowing it might be damaging pending a quick resolution, unless we are compelled to release them” , Saleh quipped.
