The state working committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano has nullified the suspension of Abdullahi Ganduje, national chairman of the party.

The APC executives in Dawakin ward under Tofa LGA of Kano had on Monday suspended Ganduje over the allegations of corruption leveled against him.

Halliru Gwanzo, legal adviser of the ward, said the suspension would subsist until the former governor is cleared of the allegations.

However, Abdullahi Abbas, chairman of the APC in Kano, alleged that the ward executives who suspended Ganduje were working with the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).

Abbas said the ward executives have now been suspended for six months.

“We have evidence of meetings between the state government officials and those that suspended the national chairman, and the state working committee has agreed to sanction them for six months and they stand suspended,” the chairman told journalists.

Last week, the Kano high court ruled that Ganduje should appear before it on April 17 on charges bordering on bribery, diversion, and misappropriation of public funds.

The former governor of Kano is to be arraigned alongside his wife and son.

In 2018, Daily Nigerian, an online newspaper, published a video of Ganduje allegedly receiving bundles of dollars from contractors, which he stuffed into his “babanriga”, a traditional outfit.

The newspaper said Ganduje requested $5 million as bribe from the contractors who recorded the video.

In 2023, the Kano state Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission (PCACC) invited Ganduje for questioning over the video.

Ganduje did not honour the invitation and instead instituted a suit against the agency.

In March, a federal high court in Kano stopped the agency from inviting or questioning Ganduje over the bribery allegations.

The court held that the agency lacks power to probe the former governor over the allegation.

Rivers state governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has described Peter Odili, ex-governor of the state, as someone with integrity.

On April 11, Odili publicly announced his support for Fubara and declared the governor as the political leader of the state.

“Our people said I should tell you to stand with the president and align with his positive policies and link the people of Rivers state with the centre,” Odili said.

“They have asked me to tell you that you are the political leader of Rivers state. Rivers people say where you go, they will go with you.”

While speqking at the inauguration of a healthcare facility in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA, Odili’s hometown, Fubara said he is happy to have the support of the former governor.

Fubara said Odili’s backing has triggered “people high blood pressure”, adding that his detractors are now “restless, granting all sorts of media interviews.”

“I’ve said it before, and I’m saying it again. It doesn’t matter the number of people that stand with you. Even if you’re standing alone, no matter the side you’re standing on, provided you are standing on the right side, maintain your stand. We are happy to stand with him (Odili),” Fubara said.

“We are also happy that he is standing with us. Even his person alone is giving people high blood pressure. They are restless, granting all sorts of media interviews. Why are they doing it? It is because the people that matter, the people that have what they claimed they have; integrity, are with us. That is the truth.

“So, if we have one person who has integrity and character, is it not better than having 1,000 persons with questionable character? So, we are happy to identify with him.”

Since taking office in May 2023, Fubara has been locked in a struggle for control of Rivers political structure with Nyesom Wike, his successor and minister of the federal capital territory (FCT).

Earlier this month, Wike criticised some leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers for lacking integrity and declaring support for Fubara.

He described them as “expired politicians” who are not worthy of being called “elder statesmen”.

Omobayo Godwins, the new deputy governor of Edo, says he left the Labour Party (LP) for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) because of his people in Akoko Edo.

Godwins was sworn in as deputy governor after Philip Shaibu was impeached.

His impeachment followed the adoption of the report of a seven-member investigative panel, after he had been accused of “misconduct, perjury and disclosure of government secrets”.

Shaibu fell out with Godwin Obaseki, Edo governor, after he declared an interest in succeeding him.

Appearing on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme, on Monday, Godwins said the people of Akoko Edo have always been a priority for him.

“To be very frank with you, the Labour Party is not just a party but a movement I hold dearly. If I have the opportunity over and over, I will continue to thank them,” he said.

“It was LP that gave me the platform, but like I told you, what informed it (defection) is Akoko Edo. It is my major project and we are predominantly APC and PDP.

“I am happy that these six months or what you called seven months are okay for me. The governor has told me in clear terms — we have discussed some critical issues and I have given him a needs assessment of our people.

“I may not be able to do so much but I will make an impact that the people of Akoko Edo and Edo north will remember me for.”

The deputy governor described Asue Ighodalo, governorship candidate of the PDP in Edo, as “humble”, adding that he plays his “kind of politics”.