By Samuel Solomon
Member representing Kiru/Bebeji Federal Constituency of Kano State, Abdulmumin Jibrin, has said President Bola Tinubu has performed excellently and rewarded Kano with more than 40 key political appointments in the federal government.
Jibrin argued that the appointments demonstrate the President’s commitment to the state and provide a strong reason for Kano people to support him.
The lawmaker said this while speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday.
“He (Tinubu) has done excellently well, and you know what, he has given Kano over 40, underline the word, 40 political appointments, key appointments in the federal government. Why will Kano people not vote him?” he stated.
Press reports that Tinubu has, over the years, appointed prominent Kano indigenes to key federal positions, including Mariya Bunkure as Minister of State for the FCT, Yusuf Abdullahi Ata as Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development, Abdullahi Ganduje as FAAN board chairman, and Nasiru Gawuna as Federal Mortgage Bank chairman.
However, the claim of over 40 such key appointments cannot be independently confirmed from publicly available records.
When pressed on how the administration would address the concerns of ordinary citizens — the talakawa — who continue to face hardship, hunger and economic pressure despite campaign promises of gains, Jibrin maintained that communication gaps had previously hindered public appreciation of government efforts.
He cited the completion of the Bichi railway station and activities at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital as examples of projects and services he said residents were becoming more aware of.
“I told you the last time when I was having a gathering, that people were shocked to hear that the Bichi station has been completed, they are shocked to hear the volume of occupants that were in Aminu Kanu teaching hospital, because they had not been told, because somebody is going to the hospital, getting things done free and coming back home, but he doesn’t know, and someone is telling him someone else is doing it,” he said.
Jibrin also praised the Kano State Government for its infrastructure projects, particularly rural roads.
“And they are seeing the roads, and particularly like for the governor in Kano, he’s also doing a lot of rural roads. Every local government is completing about five kilometers of road. He’s building classes, he’s renovating classes, he’s building health centers, he’s renovating existing health centers, he’s turned Kano to a construction site,” he said.
On concerns over poverty, Jibrin acknowledged that poverty remained a problem but argued that it had persisted under successive administrations.
He said governments should instead be assessed on their efforts to address the problem, adding that public complaints about hunger had been repeated under successive administrations.
“All the government does is to try their best. No, no, no, we don’t measure it that way. If we measure it that way, then we will say, since you were born, since you were born, have you ever heard in this country where they say something is better?”
He cited previous administrations under Muhammadu Buhari, Goodluck Jonathan, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Olusegun Obasanjo and Sani Abacha, saying similar complaints about hunger had been made under each government.
“Yesterday it was Buhari, people are hungry. The day before yesterday it was Jonathan, people are hungry.
“Before then it was Yar’Adua, people are hungry. Before then it was Obasanjo, people are hungry. Before then it was Abacha, people are hungry,” Jibrin said.
