Nasir Yusuf Gawuna, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano State, who was declared winner of the March 18 governorship election on Wednesday, was once arrested for electoral misconduct.

In the March 18, 2023 election, Abba Yusuf, candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), polled a total of 1,014,353 votes while Gawuna had 987,819 votes, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

However, on Wednesday, the state’s governorship election petition tribunal announced Gawuna as the winner after nullifying Yusuf’s victory.

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EDUACTION AND POLITICAL JOURNEY

Guwana was born on August 6, 1967. After obtaining his First School Leaving Certificate from Gawuna Primary School in 1979, he proceeded to Government Secondary School, Gwaram. He later attended Science Secondary School, Dawakin Kudu in 1982.

Between 1984 and 1985, he was at the School of Basic Studies, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria where he obtained his Advanced Level Certificate. He gained admission into Usman Danfodiyo University, Sokoto in 1985 and obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry in 1990.

Gawuna’s political journey began in 2004 when he was elected as chairman of Nassarawa Local Government in Kano. He was re-elected in 2007.

In 2014, the then governor Rabiu Kwankwaso appointed Gawuna commissioner for Agriculture.

After Kwankwaso’s tenure ended, former governor Abdullahi Ganduje reappointed Gawuna to serve at the same ministry of agriculture in 2015. And he held the role until Ganduje made him the deputy governor in 2018.

He was the deputy governor of the state until 2022 when he resigned ahead of his participation in the 2023 governorship election.

ARRESTED FOR ‘ELECTORAL MISCONDUCT IN 2019

In 2019, Kano police arrested Gawuna and Murtala Sule Garo, the commissioner for local government, for their “attempt to disrupt the collation of the governorship election results”.

According to several reports, the duo and some political thugs attacked the Nasarawa local government collation centre at the wee hours of March 11.

While the deputy governor was subsequently released as a result of the immunity he enjoys from being prosecuted, Garo was not released and was instead charged for unruly behaviour and related offences.

COVID-19 PALLIATIVES MARRED BY IRREGULARITIES

While Gawuna was the deputy governor, he was also the chairman of the Kano State Taskforce Committee on COVID-19. The committe was saddled with the responsibility evaluating the situation and coordinating the state’s response to the threats posed by the pandemic.

The state government claimed it spent N425m on COVID-19 palliatives to cushion the harsh impact of the pandemic.

But checks by FIJ showed that the intervention was marred by irregularities and alleged hijacking of palliative distribution by politicians.

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Gawuna had said 100,000 households benefitted from the first and second rounds of the exercise. But a report by BudgIT stated that the selection process of the beneficiaries was strictly for political party loyalists.

As a result of this, the vulnerable groups in the community who needed the relief items could not benefit from the distribution.

“In Kano, residents of Minjibir revealed that the selection process of the beneficiaries was strictly for political party loyalists, and the vulnerable groups in the community could not benefit from the palliative distribution,” revealed the BudgIT report.

“Party leaders were tasked to share to only party members upon presentation of party card or identification of being a member of the ruling party.”

A publication by Corruption Anonymous (CORA) also corroborated BudgIT’s report, revealing that there were many instances where some politicians and traditional leaders were accused of redirecting the pallaitives to their own families and political allies.