‘Stop Deceiving Nigerians’: Emir of Katsina Confronts APC Delegation Over Insecurity and Hunger

Emir of Katsina Tells APC Leaders to ‘Stop Deceiving Nigerians’ Over Insecurity and Hunger

The Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Dr Abdulmumini Kabir Usman, has told senior figures in Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress to ‘stop deceiving Nigerians’ about the true condition of the country, in remarks delivered at his palace to a delegation campaigning for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election.

The delegation was led by Senator Abdulaziz Abubakar Yari, a former governor of Zamfara State who serves as Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council for the 2027 presidential race.

Katsina State Governor Dikko Umaru Radda and his predecessor, Aminu Bello Masari, were also present.

Ejes Gist News reports that accounts of the meeting, captured in a video circulated from the palace, show the monarch addressing the politicians in blunt terms on insecurity, hunger and the conduct of the governing party in Katsina.

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The remarks were attributed to the Emir in the widely shared video. Ejes Gist News has not independently verified the specific figures he cited.

‘Stop deceiving Nigerians’

The Emir said political leaders were already competing for 2027 campaign positions while residents of his emirate were being killed by armed groups.

According to the account of the meeting, he said 52 schools remain closed within the emirate and that farmers cannot reach their land across 12 local government areas because of insecurity.

He questioned why the party was building a campaign structure instead of a security task force capable of capturing bandit leaders such as Bello Turji, a figure Nigerian security agencies have long listed among those wanted in the north-west.

Katsina lies in Nigeria’s north-west, a region where armed groups known locally as bandits have carried out mass abductions, killings and the displacement of rural communities over the past decade. The state is the home of former President Muhammadu Buhari, who led Nigeria from 2015 to 2023.

Palace visits and party rivalries

The Emir said political leaders forget ordinary people once elections are over, comparing the way politicians treat the palace to a ‘voting center or toilet’ that they visit only when they need something, before returning to Abuja and Lagos until the next election cycle.

He also pointed to rivalries inside the Katsina APC, citing friction between the camps of Governor Radda, former Governor Masari and Abuja-based party figures, and said ordinary residents faced severe hunger while the factions competed for political dominance.

A warning on 2027

Looking ahead to the next general election, scheduled for 2027, the Emir warned that voters had learned from what he described as the selfishness of political leaders.

He cautioned that if the APC brings bags of rice and money to buy votes, residents would collect the items and still vote against the party.

The Emir closed by challenging Senator Yari to stand for the truth, to rely on dialogue and persuasion rather than political backbiting, and to properly convey the suffering and economic hardship of ordinary Nigerians back to the presidency.