Ganduje aide’s father confirms son’s arrest for criticising Buhari

Elder statesmen, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, has confirmed the arrest of his son, Salihu Tanko-Yakasai aka Dawusi, by security operatives on Friday.

The younger Yakassai, who is a Special Adviser on Media to Kano State Governor and a member of All Progressives Congress (APC), is a staunch critic of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

He was suspended by Governor Abdullahi Ganduje last year for criticising the President following the #EndSARS protest but was recalled after political and religious leaders in the state intervened in the matter.

Following Friday’s abduction of 373 students of Government Girls Secondary School in Jangabe, Talata Mafara local government area of Zamfara State, the governor’s aide renewed his criticism of President Buhari and demanded his resignation over his inability to address the country’s security challenges.

He said on his Twitter handle the APC-led government has failed Nigerians at all levels.

Yakassai wrote: “Clearly, we as APC government, at all levels, have failed Nigerians in the number 1 duty we were elected to do which is to secure lives and properties. Not a single day goes by without some sort of insecurity in this land. This is a shame! Deal with terrorists decisively or resign.”

“Hypocrisy is in our DNA. Imagine what’s happening in the North now was under GEJ or OBJ, sai dai ka ji ana makiyin arewa ne, makiyin musulmi ne (what you would hear constantly is that they are the enemy of the north, the enemy of the Muslims), but here we are, being ravaged by all sorts of insecurity but no collective rage, sai useless lamentations.

“Each time another tragedy happens, we lament, condemn, create hashtag, the government pretends to do something, no concrete steps to prevent reoccurrence, and then we repeat the process. To what end? Where are those saddled with the responsibility?”

READ ALSO: SocialMediaTrends: #FreeDawisu; how Nigerians reacted to arrest, sack of Ganduje’s aide

Early on Saturday, there were reports that the outspoken aide had been arrested on the orders of Ganduje.

While the speculations were still rife, his father confirmed his son’s arrest by security operatives to journalists.

“Yes, Salihu has been with the security operatives since yesterday (Friday). He was arrested on his way to a barbing saloon. But I cannot confirm whether he is here in Kano or somewhere else,” he said.

Sources have also revealed that Yakassai was taken to Abuja by the security operatives who arrested him.

When Ripples Nigeria put a call to the Kano State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Abdullai Haruna Kiyawa, for confirmation of the governor’s aide’s arrest, the police spokesman said he was not arrested by the command and as such, could not comment on it.

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