Abuja, Nigeria– A media group, Maliya Media Reporters, has alleged that Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, the spokesperson for the Kano State Governor, misrepresented the details of a meeting between the Deputy Senate President, Senator Jibrin Barau, and former chairmen of the 44 local government areas in Kano State. The group claims that Tofa shared inaccurate information on a WhatsApp platform, potentially misleading the public.
The controversy arose from a post by Tofa in a WhatsApp group named “Kano News Room” at 4:32 pm on Friday, which allegedly claimed that the former local government chairmen had defected to Senator Barau’s faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The post was reportedly titled “Ganduje Loses Grip As 44 Former Council Chairmen Defect to Barau APC Faction.”
Maliya Media Reporters, in a statement signed by its Chairman, Adamu Abdullahi Karkasara, accused Tofa of urging journalists to attribute the story to anonymous sources. The group criticized Tofa for not issuing an official statement with his signature, which would have been the proper protocol.
The group also commended the professional media outlets that chose not to publish the misleading information. It clarified that the meeting in question was held to celebrate Senator Barau for his role in establishing the North West Development Commission (NWDC) and not for any political defections. The former council chairmen, led by Alhaji Muhammad Baffa Takai, the former Chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) in Kano, were in Abuja to express their gratitude to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for signing the NWDC bill into law.
The statement emphasized that there was no discussion of party politics during the meeting, and instead, the focus was on attracting more development projects to Kano State. The group urged Tofa to stop spreading misinformation that could cause division among Kano’s leaders.
Maliya Media Reporters also called on Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf to intervene and prevent the dissemination of fake news that could harm the state’s unity. The group stressed the importance of all political leaders working together for the betterment of Kano, regardless of party affiliations, in line with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
