Abdulmumin Jibrin Kofa, a member of the House of Representatives from Kano, has alleged that fellow lawmaker Alhassan Doguwa has never won a free and fair election.
Jibrin likened Doguwa, the chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), to the late Idi Amin, the former Ugandan leader notorious for his authoritarian rule.
Amin was a military dictator who ruled the East African country between 1971 and 1979.
Jibrin Kofa, a member of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), and Doguwa, from the All Progressives Congress (APC), have been at odds recently.
The conflict intensified after Jibrin warned Doguwa against insulting Rabiu Kwankwaso, the NNPP presidential candidate in the 2023 elections. Doguwa responded by claiming that Kwankwaso first insulted APC members in Kano.
In a statement on Wednesday, Sani Paki, Jibrin’s media aide, quoted Jibrin as saying his influence was crucial in making Doguwa the Chief Whip of the House in the eighth National Assembly.
Jibrin alleged, “Doguwa has never won a free and fair election. His party did not find him suitable for the position of Whip or Leader of the House in 2023.”
Jibrin added, “Though he worked against us in the speakership race of 2015 and covertly in 2019, I defeated him both times and pushed for him to be Chief Whip on the instruction of Kwankwaso in 2015. I repeated the same after leading the speakership race in 2019 to make Alhassan Leader of the House, as instructed by the then Governor of Kano. He has betrayed these leaders and continues to plot against them.”
Describing Doguwa as “the real political parasite,” Jibrin challenged him to demonstrate his political structure, accusing him of thriving only in crisis situations. “I am fit to be called his godfather in the House of Representatives. This is what a little boy who was in school in 1992 can do to an old man like Doguwa,” Jibrin concluded.
