Abba Kabir Yusuf, the governor of Kano State and better known by his stage name Abba Gida-Gida, has directed agents of the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and Hisbah (Sharia police) to investigate properties that Abdullahi Ganduje is said to have sold.
The directive was given by Gida-Gida on Monday when he announced the dismissal of several government personnel chosen by the previous governor.
In an executive order he signed, the new governor ordered that “all political appointees heading government MDAs and companies are hereby relieved of their appointment with immediate effect.”
He also immediately dissolved all boards of MDAs, companies and institutions of higher learning.
The executive order reads: “I am announcing, today, that all these public places and assets that were immorally plundered and sold by the Ganduje administration should be taken over by law enforcement agencies, led by the Police, the DSS, Civil Defense, and Hisbah pending the final decision of the government.”
It was learnt that some of the properties the governor was referring to include “lands in and around schools, religious and cultural sites, hospitals and clinics, graveyards and green areas, and along the city wall of Kano”, as well as other landed properties and assets belonging to Kano State within and outside the state to their cronies and agents.”
He announced that a Judicial Commission of Inquiry would be constituted in the coming days “to ensure that all perpetrators and those that aided and abetted them are brought to justice.”
He said all the actions he would be taking in the next few days were targeted towards resetting the state and repositioning it on the path of honour and dignity, respect and responsibility, as well as on the path of progress and prosperity.
He also announced the immediate set up of a Taskforce on Refuse Disposal, Evacuation of Drainages and Streets Cleaning (Operation Nazafa) comprising of yet to be unveiled, different stakeholder groups.
“In the coming days, I will officially launch a state-wide campaign with self-help groups to drive the operation. In the next few weeks all the dumps will be cleared, all our streets will be clean, all our drainages will be de-silted and a sustainable system of maintaining the cleanness and clearing the dumps will be in place,” he said.
The newly sworn-in Governor also announced that from June 1, all vehicles plying the state’s roads must have a dustbin in them, and all businesses – including shops and stalls – should also have dustbins for collecting and proper disposal of wastes and refuse.