RIGHT TO REPLY: AN EXPOSE ON TIJJANI SARKI’S HYPOCRISY AND HIS POLITICALLY-MOTIVATED ATTACK ON DR. GANDUJE.
By Bala Salihu Dawakin Kudu –Senoir Special Assistant to His Excellency Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje on Print Media.
24th September 2025 – Abuja
“When the mouth that once begged for favour turns into a mouth that spreads falsehood, we must speak — not to defend a man, but to defend the truth.”
Let me begin with absolute clarity: Tijjani Sarki Zawachiki’s article titled “GANDUJE’S ‘CONTINUITY’ MOCKERY: A PERSONAL STATEMENT ON A PUBLIC DISSERVICE” is not only a poorly disguised political hit job, it is also a shameless exercise in hypocrisy, opportunism, and betrayal of the very values he claims to defend.
Tijjani Sarki presents himself as a “public policy analyst” and “good governance advocate,” but the people of Kano know him better: a political mercenary, a money-chasing opportunist, and a man whose loyalty lies only where the highest bidder points.
“Let the record be set straight”.
THE TRUTH BEHIND THE LIES: YOU ONCE BEGGED GANDUJE TO SPONSOR YOU
Before you pretend to be the voice of the people, let the people know that you, Tijjani Sarki, visited His Excellency Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje at his Asokoro residence, not to promote good governance — but to beg for financial sponsorship to write against the current Kano State Government. Your proposal was rejected — not out of malice, but out of principle. Dr. Ganduje is a man of substance, not vendetta.
Having been turned down, you shamelessly ran back to Kano to seek patronage from the very administration you once sought to attack. Now, suddenly, you’ve found your voice — but only to attack a former governor who is no longer in office.
Let’s ask the obvious question:
Why didn’t you have the courage to challenge any government while they were still in power? Why do you always wait until the ship has sailed before you try to punch holes in it?
You were silent when injustice was loud. You were hiding when courage was needed. And now you rise — not in truth, but in bitterness and betrayal.
THE DEAFENING SILENCE ON TODAY’S GOVERNMENT’S FAILURES
While you go on an 8-page attack against Dr. Ganduje, it is laughable — and revealing — that you never mentioned a single wrongdoing of the current Kano State administration. Is this the balance you preach?
Let’s remind you of what your new sponsors are doing — acts you’ve deliberately ignored in your so-called “statement of conscience”:
The demolition of private properties worth billions, without compensation or legal justification — including:
The Masallacin Idi Complex
The historic Daula Hotel
Residential houses behind Kano Polytechnic
Shops, markets, and youth businesses across the city
The politicization of civil service appointments, and mass replacement of experienced technocrats with political loyalists.
The dismantling of community projects built under previous administrations simply to score political points.
The return of thuggery and politically motivated harassment under the guise of “security restructuring”.
The increasing financial secrecy in public procurement, state contracts, and foreign trips — yet no single press release from your table on these.
Where was your voice, Tijjani?
Why haven’t you published “A Personal Statement on the Public Destruction of People’s Livelihoods” under the present government?
Because your integrity is for sale — and we all now know the price.
THE EVIL OF SELECTIVE MEMORY
You accuse Dr. Ganduje of abandoning projects. But you fail to mention the numerous capital projects completed under his administration, many of which directly impacted health, education, security, and infrastructure:
Kano’s First Flyover Network that eased decades of traffic chaos.
The Aminu Kano Cancer Treatment Centre, the most advanced of its kind in Northern Nigeria.
Construction of over 2,000 classrooms, recruitment of 5,000 teachers, and investments in basic education.
Expansion of Kano Economic City, supporting thousands of traders and SMEs.
Massive road infrastructure and rural electrification projects across all senatorial zones.
You also fail to mention that the foreign scholarship program was inherited in financial ruins, and that Dr. Ganduje still managed to negotiate and repatriate stranded students, while restructuring it to prevent future abuse.
But truth doesn’t serve your new agenda. So you ignore it.
THE REALITY OF GOVERNANCE: YOU CANNOT FIX INHERITED FAILURE OVERNIGHT
Dr. Ganduje, like every leader, made difficult decisions. Not every project can be sustained when budgets are strained and systems are broken.
Yet, unlike the current administration, Ganduje never resorted to destruction and vindictiveness. He never ran bulldozers through people’s homes in the name of politics. He never criminalized private enterprise or waged war against public memory.
And most importantly, he did not pay desperate writers to insult his predecessors for cheap applause.
TIJJANI’S RECORD: OPPORTUNISM MASQUERADING AS ADVOCACY
Let’s also be honest about who Tijjani Sarki really is:
A political drifter who moves with the tides of power.
A man who has written glowing articles about every governor — only after they left office.
A man whose loyalty changes with his bank balance.
A “public analyst” who never analyzed anything until he was paid to do so.
Your words may sound like activism, but your actions reek of desperation and deceit.
CONCLUSION: HISTORY CANNOT BE REWRITTEN WITH BIASED INK
Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje’s legacy is not perfect — no one’s is. But it is undeniable, and it is bold. He led Kano through turbulent times, built where others talked, stood where others hid, and left behind monuments, not mirages.
You, Tijjani, have the right to write.
But the people of Kano also have the right to remember the truth, and to expose hypocrisy wrapped in grammar.
This is not just a reply to one man’s pen —
It is a defense of memory, a record for history, and a warning to future opportunists:
> Truth may walk slowly, but it never falls. Lies, no matter how loud, cannot bury a legacy built on service.
Dr. Ganduje does not need hired writers to defend him.
His record speaks.
His projects stand.
His integrity endures.
Let the people judge.
Bala Salihu Dawakin Kudu Senior Special Assistant to His Excellency Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje on Print Media.
