Sanusi Balarabe, a chieftain of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), has described the demolition of properties in Kano state by Gov Abba Yusuf as a blatant abuse of power.
Speaking in Hausa in a viral YouTube video, Balarabe described the demolition exercise being carried out by the Yusuf government as unreasonable and uncalled for.
The ardent supporter of the Kwankwasiyya Movement said he and his family did not vote for Governor Yusuf to demolish properties in the state but to provide dividends of democracy to residents.
He said they believed in the Kwankwasiyya movement and voted for the NNPP in the 2023 elections because its leader and former governor of the state, Rabiu Kwankwaso, had performed creditably well while he was in office.
He regretted that all the shops being demolished belonged to Kano traders and not foreigners, adding that the shops would have been put to better use if they were taken over by the government and reallocated to the less privileged at reasonably affordable rates.
He said: “In all honesty, none of us voted for the government knowing it will carry out these demolitions. It is waste to demolish properties indiscriminately and therefore outright unreasonable and condemnable,” Balarabe, leader of the Mu Hadu Mu Gyara group said in the video.
“Even if they were owned by foreigners, at least they are human beings with entitlements, they improve the revenue base of the state by paying taxes to government which makes it a huge wastage to demolish ordinarily productive assets.
“If for instance, each owner of a demolished shop was to pay just N1,000 in taxation to the government, it would sum up to a huge amount, which could be useful to the state.
“If for instance, a small-scale trader who cannot afford N1m rent for a shop at Kasuwan Kwari was to be allocated a plot in these targeted locations for like N100,000 it would be far better than demolishing them which is nothing but waste.”
On the claims that the structures being demolished were illegally erected, Balarabe said even at that, due process must have to be diligently followed by first setting up a commission of inquiry and other processes.
He added: “It is a gross mistake and blatant abuse of power for the government to embark on such destruction without recourse to legal processes and it will be setting the wrong example to use a wrong to correct another wrong.
“At my level, I will advise the governor to suspend the demolitions, concentrate on the major assignment we voted for, improve infrastructure, get job opportunities for the people, and remind him that a lot of otherwise productive individuals are being sent out of jobs by this action which is clearly vindictive. He should not allow personal political sentiment to overshadow his sense of responsibility.”
