Tension in Kano as Kwankwaso, Ganduje get set for rallies same day Police warn Kwankwaso
There is heightened tension in Kano ahead of two political rallies slated for the same day, January 30, by leaders of the two factions of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the stateGovernor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and his predecessor, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso.
The two factions have fixed the same date and venue for the rallies, thereby raising concerns that their seeming irreconcilable rift is drifting towards an all-out clash. The two separate rallies are centered on the forthcoming local government election scheduled to hold in the state on February 10, Daily Trust gathered.
Kwankwaso is expected to visit Kano on January 30 to help his people who are contesting for chairmanship and councillorship in their campaigns. It was observed that for the past one month, supporters of the Kwankwasiyya group have been holding series of meetings in Kano and Kaduna states in preparation for the planned visit.
The former governor is to be received by his supporters along the Kano-Abuja highway and accompany him to Kano city. However, weeks before the scheduled visit, the political atmosphere of the state has heated up as observers say the visit has already magnified the differences in the Kwankwasiyya and Gandujiyya slogans, thereby making it a curious subject of discussion among political watchers in the state.
While supporters of the former governor are excited about the visit, their counterparts in the camp of the incumbent governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, are vehemently against it. The two groups have engaged in a serious media battle, attacking and counterattacking each other in various political programmes aired by public and private radio stations in the state, thus, creating tension around the visit.
Beside the media engagement, members of the Kwankwasiyya group have continued with preparations for the historic visit by their leader. The group has already constituted a 19-member security committee for the visit. The committee comprises six retired army generals, four retired Assistant Inspectors General of police and a retired police commissioner, among others.
The security committee is headed by General Idris Bello Dambazau (rtd) while Dr Danyaro Ali Yakasai and Barrister Munir Dahiru will serve as vice chairman and secretary respectively. Other members of the committee include Colonel Usman Garun-Malam (rtd), Air Commodore Salisu Yusha’u (rtd), Major General Ahmad Tijjani Jibril (rtd), Air Commodore Ali Bebeji (rtd), Air Commodore Zakari Baffa and AIG Bala Abdullahi (rtd). Also among the members are CP Rabi’u Mani (rtd) Commander Kamilu Wudil, Commander Sarki Aliyu Daneji, Alhaji M.T Usman, Hon Lawal Sale Gaya, Alhaji Baba Umar, Alhaji Tijjani Dambazau, Alhaji Sanusi Surajo Kwankwaso, Alhaji Adamu Garko and Alhaji Muhammad Ado Dambatta.
However, there are two divergent views concerning the real motives behind the visit. According to the Director General of the Kwankwasiyya Development Foundation, Alhaji Surajo Habibu Tsafe, Kwankwaso would visit the state purposely to interact with his people.
He said, “It has been long since the former governor visited the state. His people are eager to see him and he is also keen to see them. The last time he visited the state is almost two years now. He came to the state and condoled Governor Ganduje over the death of his mother. It was unfortunate that even that visit was later politicised. Members of Kwankwasiyya are peace loving people. We don’t have history of violence in our activities. We have never been found wanting in causing political crisis in this country and I can assure you, we will do everything possible to ensure that the January 30 visit holds peacefully.”
Corroborating Tsafe’s views, a former commissioner during Kwankwaso, Dr Yunusa Adamu Dangwani, said the proposed visit is purely political, adding: “After he completed his tenure as governor of Kano State in May 2015, Kwankwaso categorically told us that he would stay away from Kano to enable his successor discharge his duties without any interference from his own angle.
“He promised that he would not come back to Kano until political activities started in the state. Now, the date for local government election has been fixed and he therefore decided to come to the state and help his people in their campaigns. People should remember that Kwankwaso was a governor, now a senator and an active member of the APC. So, his people need him at this critical time of campaign,” Dangwani said.
A reliable source within the Kwankwasiyya group who preferred anonymity told Daily Trust that during the visit, the former governor is expected to present flags to 44 members of the group who are contesting in the local government poll.
“The Kwankwasiyya people who bought chairmanship and councillorship forms through Alhaji Umar Haruna Doguwa will be presented APC flags by Senator Kwankwaso to qualify them for the contest. You know we have two sets of APC candidates for the Kano local government election. We have APC Kwankwasiyya and APC Gandujiyya sets of candidates. So, Kwankwaso is coming to Kano to present APC flags to APC Kwankwasiyya’s candidates and campaign for them,” he said.
It would be recalled that the consequences of Kwankwaso’s condolence visit gave birth to factions within the APC in the state. The Ganduje-led faction of the party was then headed by the present Commissioner for Special Duties, Alhaji Abdullahi Abbas, while Alhaji Umar Haruna Doguwa headed the Kwankwaso-led faction of APC.
Since the controversial condolence