Controversy over arrest, sack of Ganduje’s aide

DSS justifies arrest

Reactions have trailed the sudden arrest of Salihu Tanko Yakasai, a media aide to Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, whose sack was announced yesterday for criticizing President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) over handling of security situations in the country.

It was gathered that security operatives stormed his residence in Kano on Friday evening and whisked him away. Family members of Salihu who spoke to Daily Trust on Sunday last night said there were yet to know anything about his whereabouts.

However, the Department of State Service (DSS) last night confirmed that its operatives arrested the media aide to Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, Salihu TankoYakasai.

Confirming his arrest and detention, the spokesperson of the service, Peter Afunanya, in a terse statement made available to journalists in Abuja, said TankoYakasai’s arrest and subsequent detention was beyond expression of opinions on social media.

Afunanya said the media aide was undergoing investigation but didn’t not give the details of his offence(s) and when the service would release him.

Many individuals and organisations including SERAP had demanded his unconditional release but the sacked media aide was still in custody as at when we were filing this report.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday demanded the immediate and unconditional release of Salihu Yakassai, son of elder statesman, Tanko Yakasai, from security custody.

In similar vein, a former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose who condemned the arrest of Salihu Yakassa, demanded for his immediate release with the #FreeDawisu.

Fayose in series of tweets said: “Sad that under this government, our security are only in persecuting whoever speaks against the president. Sad that Nigerians can’t criticize the same president who did not only speak against his predecessors, but also led protests.

The PDP according to Kola Ologbondiyan, National Publicity Secretary, described the reported arrest of Salihu by security operatives as well as his alleged detention in a secret facility, just after his criticism of the Buhari administration’s failures in the fight against banditry in the country, as “completely unacceptable.”

Salihu Yakasai’s ordeal is a sad reminder of the sudden disappearance of another known critic of the Buhari administration; Abubakar Idris, popularly known as Abu Hanifa Dadiyata, since August 2019.

The PDP reminds agents of the APC-led administration that Nigeria is a democratic nation and that the rights of citizens, including their freedom of expression, within the ambit of the law, are firmly guaranteed in the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and as such, must be respected.

Part of the statement reads: “Our party therefore rejects the arrest of Salihu Yakasai, for joining other patriotic Nigerians in demanding a Presidential commitment of a decisive action to rescue the abducted Zamfara schoolgirls as well as to end all acts of terrorism in our country.

“The PDP also condemns the decision of the Governor of Kano State, Alhaji Umar Ganduje, in summarily relieving Salihu Yakasai of his appointment as his Special Adviser on media, on the ground that his patriotic demand for a decisive action to end terrorism, was contrary to the stand of the APC government.

“It is also instructive to note that Governor Ganduje equally warned all political appointees and public servants in the state against such patriotic expressions like those made by Salihu.

“The action of the Governor Ganduje has again heightened apprehensions on the alleged connections between APC leaders and the bandits pillaging our nation.

“In this regard, the PDP demands that Governor Ganduje comes clean on the matter.

“This is because such stances have continued to embolden bandits while frustrating patriotic citizens who are raising voices against acts of terrorism in our country.

Daily Trust on Sunday reports that Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano State yesterday announced the dismissal of his special adviser on media, Salihu Tanko Yakasai, following his criticism of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government at all levels.

Yakasai’s sack, which was with immediate effect, came few months after he was suspended and later reinstated because of similar comments but more scathing criticism of President Muhammadu Buhari in the wake of the #EndSARS protests that rocked the country late last year.

Announcing his dismissal from the job he had done since the beginning of the first term of the Governor Ganduje administration, the commissioner for information in the state, Malam Muhammad Garba, said it was based on his “continued unguarded comments which are deemed contrary to the stand of the APC government, which he is serving.’’

Garba said the governor accused Yakasai of failing to “differentiate between personal opinion and official stand on matters of public concern, and therefore, cannot be allowed to continue to serve in a government he does not believe in.”

“The governor also warned political appointees and public servants to guard against making statements capable of drawing superfluous controversy,’’ the statement added.

The governor also reaffirmed his commitment to the policies and programmes of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Yakasai’s misfortune this time came about as a result of the criticism he tweeted via his official Twitter handle @dawisu on Friday following the abduction of school children in Government Girls’ Secondary School, Jangebe, in Talata Mafara Local Government Area of Zamfara State.