By Ibrahim Ramalan
A former governor of Kano State and senator representing Kano Central, Ibrahim Shekarau, has met with the national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu, in Lagos on Sunday to discuss the recent developments in the party in Kano.
Mr Shekarau is currently the leader of the APC in Kano, following a court judgement that dissolved the Governor Abdullahi Ganduje-led faction of the party.
DAILY NIGERIAN reports that there is repression against opposition elements in the state, culminating in attacks and arsons of properties owned by the governor’s opponents.
The Shekarau-led group had petitioned the Inspector-General of Police Alkali Baba over the development, and the police are expected to summon some key actors in the Ganduje camp for questioning over the arsons.
DAILY NIGERIAN gathered that Mr Tinubu had extended the invitation to Mr Shekarau last week, and sent a private jet to pick up the senator from Abuja.
Prior to the Lagos meeting, sources said Mr Tinubu’s camp was following the unfolding developments in Kano APC with keen interest.
Mr Ganduje’s involvement of his family into the state affairs, the many scandals, corruption and growing resentment of Kano people against his administration are shrinking the party’s electoral fortunes in future elections in the state.
A source in the Tinubu’s camp said on the condition of anonymity that despite the unalloyed support Mr Ganduje gives to the Tinubu camp, the camp sees Mr Ganduje as a “huge political baggage” who could not win election in any fair contest.
“You know Asiwaju was instrumental to his return for a second term. And you know what happened during the inconclusive election. The election was won fair and square on that very day by the PDP candidate, but because of the interest of the powers at the top, the will of the people was subverted to favour Ganduje.
“But the governor is living in delusion, thinking that he can win election on his own. The saddest part of it is that he thinks Abuja is not aware of this. He is a huge political baggage no one would want to carry,” the source said.
DAILY NIGERIAN learnt that Mr Tinubu is concerned about Kano because of its large delegate haul to the party’s national convention, where a presidential candidate will emerge.
Kano has 44 local government party chairmen, 40 members of State Assembly (35 of them are APC members), 25 members of the House of Resentatives (all are APC members), three senators (All of them APC members) and many former members who all have votes at the presidential primaries.
The foregoing reasons and the fact that Kano gives APC highest number of votes at the general election made the former Lagos governor concerned about the Kano APC crisis.
Sources said the general impression from the Asiwaju camp is that the people are with the Shekarau camp.
“What we understand is that the people are with the Shekarau camp. Well at the moment it will be dangerous for Asiwaju to take side with either Ganduje or Shekarau. But Asiwaju’s body language shows he is more at home with Shekarau as the APC leader in Kano,” said a source familiar with the Lagos meeting.
But insiders said the party crisis in Kano was deliberately created to stop Mr Tinubu’s candidacy as some key party leaders are more inclined to fielding a Christian candidate.
According to the anti-Tinubu group, the dilemma of the APC is not just the burden of fielding Mr Tinubu but the burden of choosing his running mate from the North.
“Pairing Tinubu with a Christian minority as vice president will be a political miscalculation as the Northern Muslim voting bloc may not be at home with the arrangement. In Nigeria today, Muslim-Muslim ticket may not fly. If APC makes this mistake, the PDP will capitalize on it to win election,” said an APC apparatchik familiar with the development.
Credit:Daily Nigerian
