The battle between Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso for relevance and control of Kano State’s political power in 2019 has taken fresh dimensions, report Correspondent, Kolade Adeyemi, in Kano
When in 1998, stakeholders of Kano politics shopped for who will become the first citizen, choices were made within and outside the budding Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). And it was between Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and the current Governor of Kano State, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
The duo had struggled to collect the PDP ticket, but party stakeholders decided to hand over the ticket to Kwankwaso. The political acrimony between the two political heavyweights started from then. It also took the intervention of Kano PDP stakeholders, including the late Muhammadu Abubakar Rimi and Ambassador Aminu Wali to pair Kwankwaso and Ganduje as the party flag bearers in that election
With unfolding events, there is no gainsaying the fact that there is no respite yet as the lingering supremacy battle continue to wax unabated, thereby heightening the political atmosphere in the state. The altercation between Kwankwaso and Ganduje came to the front burner when Ganduje decided to succeed Kwankwaso as governor of the state. Then, there were many choices before Kwankwaso as many of his loyalists wanted to succeed him. But the former governor came under severe pressure from Kano political stakeholders and party elders who prevailed on him to surrender the All Progressive Congress (APC) gubernatorial ticket to Ganduje.
The silent confrontational approach between them continued and snowballed into open confrontation and bitter acrimony. The condolence visit of Kwankwaso to Ganduje when he lost his mother generated another crisis as Kwankwaso’s teeming supporters invaded Ganduje town, brandishing dangerous weapons, and calling the governor all sorts of names. They also staged a pro-Kwankwaso presidential campaign rally to the chagrin of the bereaved.
As smaller parties continue to proliferate, Kwankwaso, with his red-cap magic, spread the Kwankwasiyya Movement like a wild fire which he is using to wage a political war against Ganduje, who served as Kwankwaso’s deputy for eight years. Hours before his formal swearing-in, in 2015, Ganduje, through his former deputy, Prof. Hafiz Abubakar, who has remained a very close ally to Senator Kwankwaso, came up with damning report of debts and liabilities left behind by Kwankwaso, amounting to over N350 billion. The outcome of the report angered Kwankwaso who then renewed his plot to make Ganduje’s tenure miserable and unsuccessful. The political acrimony thickened as Ganduje’s loyalists retaliated, ensuring that everything about the red-cap ideology was extinguished within the government circle.
The battle raged further when Kwankwaso hijacked the control of APC machinery with his loyalist, Haruna Doguwa, as the party chairman. Disturbed over the development, Ganduje struggled to be in control, a situation which at the end tore APC leadership in Kano apart. Senator Kwankwaso, who is based in Abuja, used his contacts and connection to ensure that the party national leadership played to his tune.
But it was not too long when Ganduje regained balance, with the full backing of the presidency to fight Kwankwaso to a standstill. At the end, Ganduje stole the show with the mysterious resignation of his favoured chairmanship candidate, Prince Abdullahi Abbas, who was later compensated with a portfolio in Ganduje’s cabinet as Commissioner for Special Duties.
While many were still wondering what Ganduje’s next move would be, the governor pulled surprises as his choice candidate for APC state chairmanship position, Engr. Bashir Yahaya Karaye, was rectified and endorsed by the party’s national leadership. That tactical move by Ganduje further pushed Kwankwaso far away from the political calculation of Kano.
Before then, many scenarios played out as members of the Gandujjiya Political Movement and the Kwankwassiya political group continued to clash, even violently. The bloody clash climaxed during the 2017 traditional Hawan Daushe at the Palace of the Emir of Kano.
Also, the outcome of February 10, 2018, Local Government Election in the state, which gave APC hundred percent victory without the input of Kwankwaso and his loyalists further boosted the chances of Ganduje’s re-election in 2019. The elated Ganduje, who was overwhelmed by the victory, even boasted to use the same slate to boost President Muhammadu Buhari’s chances of going back to Aso Rock with a promise to use his popularity to produce over five million votes for Buhari in 2019. These entire gimmicks are geared towards ensuring that Kwankwaso’s presidential ambition becomes nothing but a tall dream.
To further push Kwankwaso out of relevance, Ganduje moved further to win the heart of Kwankwaso’s political arch rivals, particularly, Senator Basheer Garba Lado, who Kwankwaso defeated to clinch the Kano Central Senatorial District in 2015. Lado, in an elaborate ceremony at the Sani Abacha Stadium, recently defected from the PDP to APC with over 100, 000 supporters. In that rally, Lado promised to use his wealth of experience and resources to make Kwankwaso politically redundant in the 2019 General Elections. To make matters worse, Kwankawso, due to his political rivalry with Ganduje, has not been able to come to Kano since after the controversial condolence visit he paid to Ganduje when the mother died three years back. In fact, the belief is that he has lost touch with the people of his constituency, most of who are openly lamenting that they have not really enjoyed Kwankwaso in terms of constituency projects and projection of bills that have direct impact on them. Rather, they regret that Kwankwaso is busy investing his time and resources, moving around the country to sell his presidential ambition.
Ganduje was also able to woo another crowd puller, who is also a cousin to Kwankwaso, Alhaji Musa Illyasu Kwankwaso, who he brought into his cabinet. Musa Illyasu’s entrance into the Gandujjiya political structure is no doubt big minus to Kwankwaso’s influence in the state and particularly his Madobi country home. Illyasu, who was made Commissioner for Special Duties and later moved to the Rural and Community Development Ministry was a strong political ally to former Governor Ibrahim Shekarau, who used him to fight Kwankwaso between 2003 and 2011 when he governed as governor of Kano State. Also, the presence of another populist, Sani Lawal Kofar Mata in Ganduje’s political structure has further brightened his chances. Kofar Mata, now Special Adviser to Ganduje on Mobilisation, played a major role in the victory of former Governor Shekarau who has gone down the pages of history as a jinx breaker, being the only governor that ruled Kano two consecutive times, a feat Ganduje is pursuing to achieve.
In fact, in Kano politics today, it seems what is remaining for Kwankwaso is the unflinching loyalty of his former commissioners, particularly, Haruna Dangwani, Honourable Abubakar Nuhu Danburam, currently representing Kano Municipal at the House of Representatives, Aminu Abdulsalam, who is now Senior Legislative Aide to Senator Kwankwaso, former Secretary to the State Government, Rabiu Suleiman Bichi, among others who are currently mobilising for the Kwankwasiyya group. These men were used by Kwankwaso to tackle Ganduje who was Deputy Governor in their second term of 2011 and 2015. This same cabal was the people behind him when he declared his presidential ambition in Abuja last Wednesday.
Ganduje further consolidated his grip on APC structure with the ward, local government and state congresses held across the country to elect leaders that would stir the affairs of the party from the grassroots to state levels. The results of the congresses clearly indicated that Governor Ganduje was in control of the party as Kwankwaso lost out entirely. Ganduje ensured that Prince Abbas, who tactically resigned his position as APC chairman and was made Commissioner for Special Duties, was returned as the duly elected APC chairman. The emergence of Abbas as state chairman of APC, after a keenly contested election, further indicated that all the APC structure in Kano has dissolved into the Gandujiyya ideologue. With APC structure firmly under the grip of Ganduje, Kwankwaso had no other choice than to fold his mats and leave the party with his supporters. He took his entire Kwankwasiyya structure to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the platform he hoped to use to actualise his presidential ambition and eventually dislodge Ganduje from Kano State’s Government House.
It is however entirely out of place to underrate Kwankwaso, a grassroots politician and crowd puller, but the steady move of Ganduje, who has the support of Kano stakeholders has continued to wane down Kwankwaso’s popularity. Already, Ganduje has created his own political dynasty and has disallowed Kwankwaso to run the affairs of the state from Abuja. Ganduje also showed Kwankwaso another political might last Wednesday when he formally declared his presidential ambition in Abuja. As the Abuja event was going on, over 10,000 tricycle operators formally loyal to the Kwankwasiyya Group gathered at Sani Abacha Stadium where they openly denounced Senator Kwankwaso and his redcap revolution. They removed their redcaps and openly set them ablaze while declaring total loyalty to the Gandujiyya Movement.
Be that as it may, Kano’s political pendulum steadily swings even in the last minute. It is no doubt a fight to finish as Kwankwaso’s major ambition is to stop Ganduje’s re-election in 2019. There are indications that if Kwankwaso did not use another political platform, he may direct his supporters to use protest votes against Ganduje in 2019 governorship election. However, as events unfold; only time will tell who will laugh last.