Since former Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the battle for Governor Abdullahi Ganduje’s seat in 2019 has gathered more steam as supporters of the two top politicians in Kano get set for a royal combat, reports Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu
BEFORE Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso’s defection from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) last month, Kano was one of the states in the Northwest where observers had considered an easy win for the ruling APC in 2019 governorship election. This was notwithstanding the prolonged face-off between Governor Abdullahi Ganduje and former Governor Kwankwaso.
But with Kwankwaso’s recent defection to the main opposition party, PDP, coupled with the intrigues that have trailed the defection barely a month after, it has become clear that the 2019 governorship race in Kano would be a royal battle.
It would be recalled that Ganduje served as Kwankwaso’s deputy before he eventually emerged governor but the two fell apart shortly after the 2015 election.
Their face-off and future elections
Although the face-off between Ganduje and his predecessor, Kwankwaso, had been noted earlier, the governor told newsmen in February what he considered to be the genesis of their parting of way. He alleged that the problem resulted from his resistance of “the attempt by somebody who had left office to decide what happened in the state.”
Their relationship, which was very intimate, had gone sour so much that the state police command once prevented Kwankwaso from traveling from Abuja, where he is serving as a senator, to Kano. Also, while the state APC became factionalised between Gunduje and Kwankwaso’s supporters, the senator’s faction of the party boycotted local council elections.
Explaining further, why he fell out with his former boss, Ganduje said: “Well, as you know, we were very good friends. In fact, my politics cannot be complete without Kwankwaso and the history of Kwankwaso politics cannot be complete without me.
“But somewhere, somehow, things went wrong. But we believe in politics, you will get to a point you cannot rule and manage a state and then you are being controlled from outside, you know that one is very difficult to happen if you look at the psychology of leaders.”
As the battle for 2019 election peaked, especially after the mass defection of many top politicians, including Senator Kwankwaso, from APC to PDP, observers noted that the battle for the governor’s seat in Kano would be narrowed to a show of power between Ganduje and Kwankwaso. This became even more pronounced following reports of a pact between Kwankwaso and his erstwhile political rival, Ibrahim Shekarau, also a former governor, to bury their past misunderstandings and work together in order to unseat Ganduje.
It was said that a major highlight of their agreement was that Kwankwaso will nominate a governorship candidate while Shekarau will nominate the deputy.
The situation in government circles in Kano, The Nation gathered, became more tensed in the last two weeks, when it was learnt that Kwankwaso, who represents Kano Central Senatorial District, is not only poised to battle his former deputy head-on but is determined to nominate for the governorship ticket of PDP, Ganduje’s deputy, Hafiz Abubakar, a former Professor of Nutrition, at Bayero University, Kano.
According to a source, Alhaji Ibrahim Usman; “the report that it was the deputy governor that Senator Kwankwaso would nominate to fly PDP’s ticket caused a lot of tension in the Government House here in Kano. Before the current development, insiders here knew there was a carefully hidden secret about the deteriorating relationship between the governor and his deputy. Because the two were known associates of former Governor Kwankwaso, no one knew what to believe or what to say publicly.”
But with last week’s defection of the immediate past Deputy Governor, Abubakar, and six state lawmakers from the ruling APC to join Kwankwaso in PDP, the battle line, which was originally drawn the day Kwankwaso left APC, has become more emboldened.
Announcing his resignation and decision to join PDP, Abubakar said, “I have endured immeasurable and unjustifiable humiliation for over two and a half years without any reason other than my principled position on the issues of governance and the desire to keep the government on track.
“Under the circumstances and given the deteriorating state of affairs and your continued disrespect for the office of the Deputy Governor as well as your expression of several injustices on my person; I regret to say that I have no option than to succumb to my inner calling.”
Although this action confirms the gathering political storm in Kano, the Ganduje-led state government said Abubakar’s exit and decision to join Kwankwaso was long expected.
A statement issued by the state Commissioner for Information, Youth and Culture, Muhammad Garba, said:
“We are aware of the event at Mambayya House on Tuesday when the former Deputy Governor finally revealed to the world his political betrayal in about three years in office as the Deputy Governor of Kano State and the Commissioner for Education.
“To discernable minds, there is no doubt that the ‘contentment’s’ of the nine-page text of press conference, painstakingly read out by Prof. Hafiz Abubakar, is not only laughable, but filled with ambiguity and confusion.
“For Prof. Hafiz to dissociate himself from his chairmanship of the 2015 Kano Gubernatorial Transition Committee, the findings and pronouncements he made, is a clear indication that he no longer has a mind of his own.
“Going by his acclaimed political pedigree, one would have expected that Prof. Hafiz resigned his position long ago for what he described as, ‘political persecution and humiliation’.”
“It is kind enough of Prof. Hafiz to confirm that he was paid his entitlements even when he chose to abandon his service to the good people of Kano State and humanity.
“There is no gainsaying the fact that Prof. Hafiz hurriedly left office in anticipation of a constitutional sledgehammer from Kano State House of Assembly, over his strong antagonism to policies of the State Government that have direct impact on the standard of living of the good people of Kano. We wish Prof. Hafiz well in the voyage of his godfather, Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, as we welcome his final exit from our great party, the All Progressive Congress (APC), as a good omen.”
It was an official response that confirmed the determination of the Ganduje-led APC to make the election a battle royale.
2019 fears
The Nation learnt during the week that in spite of the counter claims by the two leading parties in Kano today, there is palpable fear over who would eventually claim the Government House.
APC however is confident to retain the seat because of what an insider described as Ganduje’s excellent performance and President Muhammadu Buhari’s cult-like followership in the state. “Yes, Kwankwaso is popular and influential but he, even with the cooperation of Shekarau, cannot beat the combined influence of Buhari and Ganduje. The combination is much more than mere power of incumbency. It is a fact that anyone here in Kano can attest to,” Mallam Isa Kano said.
Ironically, there is almost equal degree of hope in the camp of PDP. This, according to Alhaji Umar Yakubu, is based on “the reality about the near larger-than-life image of Kwankwaso amongst Kwankwasiya faithful and others. You must know that following his defection, there was a gale of defections on the floor of the House of Representatives, where 37 lawmakers, 10 of whom are from Kano State, immediately announced their exit from APC. That show of support was followed by six loyalists of the former governor in the Kano State House of Assembly who also defected to PDP last week. So, it is something we can all see without making much effort,” he said.
From the reactions of most respondents, it could be seen that the Kano 2019 governorship race can no longer be taken for granted by any political party or interest. The current intrigues have revealed growing strength in both APC and PDP. It only remains to be seen, who, amongst the two, would eventually laugh last.