Abdullahi Ganduje
Ganduje denies El-Rufai’s allegation over abducted critic, Abubakar Idris
Former Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has strongly denied allegations by former Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai linking him to the disappearance of Abubakar Idris, also known as Dadiyata.
In a statement signed by Comrade Muhammad Garba, former Kano Commissioner for Information, the claims were described as reckless, unfounded, and a clear attempt to shift responsibility for an incident that occurred in Kaduna State.
The statement stressed that Dadiyata lived and operated in Kaduna, where his criticisms were directed, adding that security responsibility at the time rested with the Kaduna State Government and federal agencies.
Garba questioned why any alleged confession implicating Kano was never formally presented to security authorities, insisting that serious accusations must be backed by verifiable evidence—not political rhetoric.
He urged that the focus remain on lawful investigation and justice for Dadiyata’s family, warning against politicizing a painful and unresolved matter.
“Accountability must be based on facts and due process, not speculation,” the statement read.
Recall that while featuring on Arise TV’s Primetime programme on Friday night, El-Rufai flatly denied culpability in Dadiyata’s disappearance and suggested that Ganduje may have been responsible.
According to El-Rufai, Dadiyata was not a critic of the Kaduna State Government under his watch but of the Kano State Government under Ganduje’s leadership.
“Dadiyata’s timeline is still around, go and study it. He was not a fierce critic of the Kaduna State Government; he was a fierce critic of the Kano State Government. He’s from Kano, he’s a Kwankwasiyya guy. He lived in Kaduna and lectured at a university in Katsina State. Go and review his timeline. It was Ganduje that was his problem,” El-Rufai said.
He added, “When we investigated, all that we could gather from his family was that the abductors came, took him, and they came from Kano. So if anybody is to be asked questions about the disappearance of Dadiyata, it’s the Kano State Government. It has nothing to do with the Kaduna State Government. We didn’t even know he existed. I didn’t even know he existed until he was abducted.”
El-Rufai further claimed that three years after Dadiyata was abducted, a policeman posted out of Kano to Ekiti State allegedly confessed that they were sent from Kano and carried out the abduction.
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