Ganduje suspends aide for critising Buhari

Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State has suspended his Special Adviser on Media, Salihu Tanko-Yakasai, for criticising the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Twitter.

Tanko-Yakasai’s suspension was announced in a statement on Sunday, October 11, 2020 by the state Commissioner for Information, Mallam Muhammad Garba, noting that it was with immediate effect.

Commenting on the raging #EndSARS protest, Tanko-Yakasai had, in tweet, described Buhari as an insensitive leader.

The governor’s aide had on his Twitter handle, @dawisu, written, “I have never seen a government with zero empathy like that of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“So many times when his people are going through a difficult time and expect some sort of tap on the shoulder to reassure them that he is in charge, but he failed to do so.

“The ‘I don’t care attitude’ is on another level.

“To speak to your own people over issues that are bedevilling them has become something like a favour you are doing to them.

“Over and over again, you cannot spare five minutes to address the nation to calm them down, the same people you went to the 36 states to beg for their votes, it is heartbreaking.”

The statement announcing Tanko-Yakasai’s suspension noted that though the governor’s aide clarified that he only voiced his personal opinion, such an opinion could easily be mistaken as an official stand on matters of public concern.

"The state Government does not condone and lacks appetite for unguarded statements, particularly on the person of President Muhammadu Buhari, hence his immediate suspension. That it came from the governor’s aide can be misinterpreted to be the ‘Governor’s mindset'. The immediate suspension of Salihu Tanko Yakasai will serve as a deterrent to others, with the mandate to speak for the governor," the statement reads partly.