Following the decision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to handover the affairs of All Progressives Congress to former governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, it is authoritatively confirmed that the former Governor has forwarded the name of former Deputy Governor of Kano Abdullahi Tijjani Muhammad Gwarzo to President Tinubu as his replacement for Ministerial nominee.
It was learnt that the former governor initially wanted Alhaji Usman Alhaji, a former secretary to the state government as his replacement but sources told this paper that he decided to send the name of Abdullahi Gwarzo because of his closeness to the president.
Apart from Alhaji, the former governor has weighed the option of considering Engr Rabiu Sulaiman Bichi a former secretary to the state government and a former commissioner for Information in the state Malam Mohammed Garba, who are highly considered as his loyalist and allies.
It’s not clear whether the name of the former governor of Kano and the leader of the New Nigeria Peoples Party is on the supplementary list.
It was earlier speculated that Kwankwaso and another nominee from kano are part of the supplementary list.
PROFILE OF ABDULLAHI TIJJANI MUHAMMAD
Gwarzo, a former Gubernatorial candidate of Action Congress of Nigeria, was born on the 23rd of September, 1960, at Koyar Getso, in the Old Gwarzo Local Government area of Kano state. He started his early primary education at the famous Gwarzo day primary school, where he completed his primary education and obtained a primary school leaving certificate in the year 1977.
He proceeded to one of the Kano state science education project Science Secondary School in Dawakin Kudu, in the year 1982, he completed his secondary school education, upon which he obtained the senior secondary certificate.
He was admitted into the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, where he studied Textile Engineering and was awarded a Bachelor of Science (Tech) degree in the year 1988. Between 1988 and 1989, he was posted to the Old Bendel state to serve his country in the mandatory National Youth Service Corps((NYSC) scheme. At Asaba, he was posted to the Asaba Textile, where he worked and thereby acquiring significant practical experience in his field of study.
Consequently, upon the completion of the NYSC scheme in 1989, Abdullahi Gwarzo, returned home, and joined the political activities of the third republic, where he pitched his tent with the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
After the rigorous and exhaustive electioneering process, in 1991, he contested for the Chairmanship of Gwarzo local government council and emerged victorious, serving between 1991-1993.
He has also served as the Executive chairman of Gwarzo Local Government Council, between 1997-1998 (NCPN), 2004-2007 (ANPP) during which he served as the State ALGON Chairman, and as well a caretaker chairman between 2003-2004 (ANPP).
He was appointed as the Special Adviser to the Executive Governor of Kano State on special duties in the year 2007. As the saying goes, Luck favors the hardworking, in the year 2007, while he was working towards securing the ticket of his party to contest the Gwarzo/Kabo Federal constituency, he was overwhelmingly drafted to partner His Excellency Malam Ibrahim Shekarau on the ANPP ticket, as the Deputy Governorship candidate in the 2007 elections.
Following the victory at the polls, he became the Deputy Governor of Kano state, a position he held until 2011.
While serving as the Deputy Governor of Kano state, he was assigned to supervise the state ministry for water resources, where he superintended the construction of a 75,000,000 liters per day, Watari water works, and the reticulation of the greater Kano water project, which earned him the mantra ‘RUWA BABA’.
He later defected to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), where he contested as the party’s Gubernatorial candidate in the 2011 governorship election, which he lost.
He is presently the Chairman Governing Council of the Federal College of Education, Zaria, a position he has been occupying since April 2021.