As the succession battle amongst aspirants in Katsina on who will succeed Governor Aminu Bello Masari, rages on, our correspondent examines the current political intrigues amongst potential candidates and their chances in the race for their party’s ticket.
Going by the outcome of the 2019 general elections, it is safe to say Katsina state is one of APC’s strong bases. Aside from being the home state of President Muhammadu Buhari, both the President and Governor Aminu Bello Masari, who ran as candidates of the ruling party during the election, won in the state by wide margins. To further prove the wide acceptance of the APC in the state, every single seat in the senate, House of Representatives, and House of Assembly chambers for the state, were won by APC candidates.
The APC by that spectacular performance sent the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which had ruled the state from 1999 until 2015 when Masari and APC toppled it, into political oblivion in most parts of the state.
Last weekend, the ruling APC strengthened its hold on the politics of the state as the Katsina State Independent Electoral Commission declared its candidates as winners in 31 councils announced by the umpire. The state has 34 councils. KASIEC Executive Secretary, Lawal Faskari, while announcing APC candidates as winners early Tuesday morning, disclosed that the results of two councils, namely Daura and Funtua were pending.
He added that the election processes in Dutsin-ma Local Government Area were stopped following alleged irregularities and crisis. Reacting to the outcome of the council polls, the PDP in the state on Tuesday said it would seek legal redress over the Katsina State Local Government election results won by the All Progressives Congress. Observers of the politics of the state however said the PDP needs to put its house in order ahead of the 2023 general election if it intends to return to winning ways in the state.
Zoning
The APC has zoned its governorship position to Katsina Central senatorial district at a recent stakeholders’ meeting held at Presidential lodge, Government house, Katsina. The outgoing Governor hails from Katsina south, otherwise known as Funtua Zone, while his deputy is from Katsina Central senatorial district. Expectedly many of the aspirants in the party are from the zone.
Political watchers in Katsina State say the current Secretary to the Government of the state, Mustapha Muhammad Inuwa, is the most visible aspirant in the race as we speak. Observers claim he may just be the preferred successor of the governor going by the massive support and encouragement his aspiration has allegedly been enjoying within government circles in the state.
A reliable source within the traditional system in the state also hinted that his ambition may have been sold to the traditional rulers across the state by the outgoing administration. “Government is a continuum. We have been told one of the governor’s close aides, who understands what has been done so far and what is left to be done, will take over,” our source, a royal father, said.
Beyond the government and the ruling party, analysts say Inuwa’s popularity is growing by the day and many of those supporting him are citing his deep knowledge of the activities of the current administration as reason why hwe should step in and continue after Masari.
Recently, over two hundred and fifty support groups of the Secretary to the Government of Katsina State, Alhaji Mustapha Mohammed Inuwa drawn from the 34 local government areas of Katsina state, as well as members of the State House of Assembly, threw their weights behind the gubernatorial ambition of the SGS in the forthcoming 2023 governorship election in the state
The SSG, who met the supporters at Katsina Motel for almost three hours, however counseled them to conduct their activities in line with electoral guidelines. He urged them to always accommodate other people’s views and should not to be violent. He said “You should expect challenges in your efforts at ruling the state in the next political dispensation, although with your support and prayers, our dreams would become reality in 2023.
“My desire to become the State Governor in 2023 is to consolidate the achievements of the successes recorded by our great party, APC in the past years and ensure that our children continue to get better education; our youths are employed and our state witnesses more developments.’’.
Meanwhile at a meeting with the State House of Assembly members, Inuwa revealed that 20 members out of the thirty-four lawmakers were in support of his becoming the state Governor in 2023, adding that the number would increase before the party’s primaries. He said” I appreciate you all for your support. We should however not deceive ourselves that there would not be challenges in our desire to rule the state in 2023.’’
Earlier while welcoming the SGS to the House of Assembly, the Speaker, Tasiu’u Musa Maigari Zango told their visitor that each and every member of the house knew him very well because of his contributions to the state in the past years. He said “you are the only candidate who has come to us and asked for our support or your guber ambition, we will always continue to pray for you.’
APC
Investigations by The Nation Newspaper revealed that presently, only four aspirants are slugging it out to emerge as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the governorship election slated for February 2023.
The four APC guber aspirants and the Local Government Areas they hail from are: Mustapha Mohammed Inuwa, currently the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) in the State, who is from Dan Musa LGA; Ahmed Musa Dangiwa from Kankia LGA; Alhaji Diko Radda from Charanchi LGA and Farouk Lawal Jobe from Kankara LGA. Sources within and outside the party told The Nation that these aspirants and their strategists are all over the state working hard to convince party members on their readiness to govern the state.
Amongst the above listed APC aspirants, it is only Mustapha Mohammed Inuwa that has mounted an aggressive campaign and can boast of a political structure with grass root mobilization to project his political aspiration. Unlike his co- aspirants, Mustapha had already addressed the media repeatedly and reached out even to his political opponents to solicit their support and presently the party has publicly acknowledged that he is the only candidate that has notified it about his intent to run for the governorship election in the state.
Distantly second to Mustapha, is Alhaji Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, the Managing Director of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria. The only noticeable political effort Dangiwa had made so far in the pursuit of his political ambition is the inauguration of contact committees in each of the 34 local government areas in the state as part of grass root mobilization effort.
Other aspirants like Dikko Radda, DG SMEDAN and Farouk Lawan Jobe, the current Finance Commissioner in the Aminu Bello Masari administration, have remained only paper aspirants, and noticeable only on campaign motor vans. Analysts say the slow pace of their aspirations may not be unconnected with the rumour that Mustapha Inuwa has been anointed for the position by Governor Masari and other party leaders. “They are all cautiously waiting to know what the Governor has in mind,” a party official said.
A cross section of Civil Society Organizations and Non-Governmental Organizations that spoke to The Nation, while denying having a particular candidate in mind, are however of a united opinion that the candidate aspiring to replace Governor Aminu Bello Masari must poses the requisite office experience and exposure as well as capability to tackle current challenges facing the state head on.
They expect the candidate to have a clear idea of how to tackle security challenges, considering the fact that Katsina is one of the states with incessant security attacks. Bashir Ruwagodia, Special Adviser to Governor Masari on Higher Education, believes on the need for political aspirants to be highly experienced in politics, administration and must possess sound knowledge of the people of the state.
Also speaking, the branch Chairman ,North West Zone of the Coalition of Northern Groups, Jamilu Aliyu Charanchi, said the group will supports someone who may not be in the system but strong enough to defend the integrity of the people of the state. He said “we need a new face that is not in the system, healthy and not above 50 years of age and someone not groomed by the outgoing government.’’
PDP
On the part of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), there was no official declaration by any gubernatorial aspirant for a long time. This had led many observers to assume that the internal crisis that rocked the party at the national level for a while may have affected its activities in Katsina State. But when the party started selling its nomination forms, some chieftains of the party started expressing their willingness to participate in the primary election.
Senator Yakubu Lado, the party’s governorship candidate has been fingered all along as one chieftain of the party likely to contest the 2023 gubernatorial election. He didn’t disappoint his supporters as he picked the party’s governorship nomination form few weeks back to contest the primary election. Born in Danmarke village to the family of prominent business tycoon and politician, Alhaji Lado Danmarke, in 1961, Lado became a council chairman from 1999 to 2003, before going to the National Assembly as a House of Representatives member from 2003 to 2007. He became a Senator afterwards.
In the House of Representatives, Lado was a member of the Nigeria Maritime Authority committee, as well as a member of various committees, including Niger Delta, Works, Sports, Water Resources, Marine Transport, as well as Cooperation and Integration. While in the Senate, Lado chaired the Senate Committee on Land Transport and was a member of the Senate Committees on Ethics, Water Resources and Sports. He emerged as the PDP governorship candidate in 2019.
Speaking at the PDP secretariat in Abuja while obtaining the forms, Lado told reporters that he has what it takes to win the election for PDP in 2023 because of his pedigree, political experience and closeness with the grassroots. “As a democratic party, we must imbibe justice, equity and fairness; that is what makes us a truly democratic party. I strongly believe that our party as a democratic party, and the electorate will consider my candidature because I have what it takes to govern the state.” The PDP governorship aspirant assured the citizens of the state that he would run an all-inclusive government if elected as the governor of the state in the forthcoming general election.
Another PDP gubernatorial aspirant in the state, Engr. Muttaqha Rabe Darma, who many have been expecting to give Lado a run for his money in the party’s primary election, has condemned the call for aspirants interested in running for governorship position on the platform of the party in 2023 to purchase the expression of interest form for the whopping sum of N21 million. It is not clear if he has obtained the form at the time of filing this report.
“What this means is that whoever is qualified and interested in contesting for governorship under the PDP must have a Godfather that will be able to give him that money and if you eventually win and become Governor you will become a slave to the Godfather who will do whatever he likes with you. However, if you manage to pay the money and you lose in the election, you will become impoverished.This is not supposed to be,” Muttaqha said.
The former Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), who is a card-carrying member of the party, expresses shock that party members have refused to come out and protest against the decision.
“How can you ask aspirants to pay N21million just to contest for governorship? N21 million is 10 months salary of a Governor. Even if it is one month’s salary, that money is still too much and I cannot afford to pay such an amount to contest to be Governor in my state,” he further said.