Tanko Yakasai, a prominent northern leader, says he supported President Goodluck Jonathan in the March 28 election because some northerners threatened to make the country ungovernable if he won.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, he denied rumours that his support for Jonathan was based on pecuniary interest.
“People talked about millions of naira given to me just to support him, but I gave my support out of my conviction that any other Nigerian is entitled to be president of Nigeria,” he said.
“What made me take that stand was the utterances of some northerners that if he was re-elected president that there would be war or bloodshed in Nigeria and that some northerners will make the country ungovernable for him.
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“And those utterance ran counter to the provisions of our constitution which give every Nigerians the right to seek any elective office of his choice and it’s up to Nigerians to vote for him or not.”
Yakasai, who was special adviser on national assembly matters to President Shehu Shagari during the second republic, said: “I never met Jonathan in person until a few days to the election on matters affecting the security of the country.
“I never asked for a contract from him or his deputy or any of his ministers. I am not a contractor and don’t even have company that does contracts.”
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He also denied widespread reports that he said the acting chairperson of INEC, Amina Zakari, is a blood relation of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“What I told them (the journalists) was that there is no blood relation between Hajia Amina Zakari and President Muhammadu Buhari,” he said.
Ayo Fayose, governor of Ekiti state, had criticised Buhari for appointing Zakari, quoting Yakasai.
He said: “Two weeks ago, respected former lawmaker and former top civil servant, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, revealed that he knew Mrs. Zakari since childhood, and that her late father, the former Emir of Kazaure, was married to President Buhari’s elder sister.
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“Alhaji Yakassai went on to reveal that President Buhari lived with and spent a significant part of his early years in the home of Amina Zakari’s father.
“This is enough establishment of conviviality between Mrs Zakari and President Buhari, whose party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) will be standing elections with other political parties this year and this will no doubt cast credibility aspersion on any election conducted by INEC headed by Mrs Zakari.”
Yakasai said: “‘In my view, Amina Zakari is a career civil servant and I don’t know her in any party.”
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7 comments
Good Nigerian, Mr Tanko
If all Nigerians has half of this man’s character we will be better off
States man
Tanko Yakassai was not a top lawmaker and civil servant. He was a devoted student of ‘Aminu Kano University’, from where he was made a Commissioner in Kano during the entire Gowon era.
His support for the Jonathan regime much predated the 2015 elections, so had nothing to do with any alleged threat by some northerners to make Nigeria ungovernable if GEJ were re-elected.
Truth be told, Yakassai is a veteran political prostitute whose politics is driven mainly by his self-interest. He shocked the Nigerian political world when in the late 1970s he abandoned his longtime political mentor Aminu Kano to join the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). He has not looked back ever since.
Yakassai today is unable to reside in his hometown of Kano because of hostility of ordinary people to his politics of opportunism. He is the pet subject of numerous popular Hausa political songs that decry the excesses of the Jonathan era.
It’s therefore no surprise he is making up silly excuses for his silly and self-serving antics.
Only in the illiterate North of Nigeria and especially in Kano can someone be proud to say that a fellow citizen cannot reside in his hometown because of political differences. Why then are we surprised that Boko Haram thrives in those parts?.
Please Scatter or what ever your name is, give the man some credit . There’s no need been unnecessarily judgemental.. Though the man contradicted himself by saying that Amina has no blood relation with Buhari but later said her father married buhari’s elder sister.. therefore if its so she is either a niece or a step niece to the president which makes it contravene the constitutional degree of the federal Republic of Nigeria.
The Opposit of Sarduana of Sokoto, Obafemi Awolowo.
Nigeria is a FAKE Country and that is why Biafrans want out.
A cheap Prostitute loved for her sweet Poucy, eh crude only. If crude dry’s out today, Nigeria is officially Dead