Publicity, Reuben Abati, had in a 10-part series of
tweets on Sunday highlighted key projects he said
the Jonathan administration executed in the six
North-West states of Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Sokoto,
Kebbi and Zamfara.
Using the hashtags #DidYouKnow?
#TransformationintheNorthWest #ForwardNigeria
#UpJonathan #UpNigeria, Mr. Abati deployed
images and graphics to illustrate what he called the
President's transformation of the North-West zone.
Northwest University, Kano
The special adviser's tweets is said to be part of the
ongoing massive publicity of President Jonathan's
legacy projects across the country in a bid to
strengthen his reelection chances in the
forthcoming presidential election.
But Kano state officials are now accusing the
presidency of fraud and demanding apology, saying
some of the projects exhibited by the special
adviser were actually executed by Governor Rabiu
Kwankwaso.
The Special Assistant on Media to Governor
Kwankwaso, Jaafar Jaafar, was furious on the
telephone as he spoke with PREMIUM TIMES that
Mr. Abati, who he said speaks for a non-performing
President, had coveted his state government's
projects to federal projects in a deliberate ploy to
mislead the public.
"This clearly shows the desperation of the Jonathan
team for reelection," Mr. Jaafar said. "Why should
they lie? Why should they mislead the world?"
Specifically, the Kano governor Special Assistant's
grouse with Mr. Abati has to do with the two
photographs he used in illustrating his sixth tweet.
"Did you know? That President Jonathan's
administration has established four new universities
in the North West zone?" Mr Abati had tweeted. He
then used images of a multi-storey complex as well
as that of a computer laboratory to illustrate the
message.
Mr. Jaafar said the multi-storey complex used in the
tweet is a 10-storey building on the temporary
campus of Kano-state owned Northwestern
University.
"That building was built entirely with funds
belonging to Kano people," Mr. Jafaar told PREMIUM
TIMES. "Abubakar Rimi started the building during
the Second Republic as headquarters for the Kano
State Investment and Property Company.
When Ibrahim Shekarau came, he tried to turn it to
an ICT park and he changed the name to Ado Bayero
House.
"When Governor Kwankwaso came, he spent
hundreds of millions of naira to complete and
furnish it. It was then put to use as one of the
structures at the temporary site of Northwestern
University."
Mr. Jaafar also said the photograph of the computer
lab published by Mr. Abati was that of Kwankwaso
Informatics Institute currently located right inside
the Kano State Library.
"The institute was built by Governor Kwankwaso
and it has already graduated many students. In fact,
the government is trying to move it to its
permanent site in Kura local government."
The Kano governor's Special Assistant added that,
"Our advice to the Federal Government is that they
should ensure that they achieve something, that
they execute projects that can be shown, not talking
in abstraction when they have done nothing for
Kano and the North-West.
"But in the interim, we deserve apology from the
Federal Government for taking credit for something
they did not achieve."
Posted By David Aniemeka
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