INSIDEPOLITICS Many hurdles before Kwankwaso in 2019
Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso (APC, Kano central) may face many hurdles in the 2019 general elections if he decides to run again for Kano Central senatorial seat.
The former governor had aspired to be president on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2015 but was defeated in the primary election by Muhammadu Buhari. He later contested a senatorial seat (Kano central) and eventually won despite the litigation instituted against him by other candidates.
Findings revealed that Alhaji Abba Kairu Yusuf, a former commissioner for works and housing during the Kwankwaso regime, was actually the APC senatorial candidate set to compete with Senator Basheer Lado of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and candidates of other political parties during the 2015 general elections. He was replaced with Kwankwaso few days before political parties submitted lists of their candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the secondary election, a development that led to litigation against the former governor.
But the court ruled that the party had the sole mandate of presenting to the INEC the person that would vie for any political office on its platform. The court ruling, therefore, paved way for Kwankwaso to run for the senatorial election under the APC. And he eventually emerged victorious.
The political calculation that brought Kwankwaso to the Red Chamber in 2015 happened while he was a serving governor in Kano, controlling all the political machinery at his disposal. The question that is now begging for answers is whether history can repeat itself in 2019.
With the developments that are taking place in Kano, the former governor will face many hurdles in 2019 as far as his political future is concerned.
First, with the lingering rift between him and his successor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, Senator Kwankwaso has virtually lost a ticket to the Senate under the APC, as far as the 2019 general elections are concerned.
Ganduje had made it clear that he would replace Kwankwaso with another candidate in 2019. The governor made the declaration at the Sani Abacha Indoor Stadium when he received Senator Basheer Lado, who decamped to the APC from PDP some months ago. The governor created a very interesting scenario at the event when he raised Senator Lado’s hand.
Daily Trust on Sunday gathered that Senator Lado was influenced to join the APC in order to face Kwankwaso if he decides to vie for a senatorial seat in 2019. But what is not clear yet is whether Kwankwaso would remain in the APC, let alone contesting for any political seat on its platform.
On the allegation that he has defected to another party ahead of the 2019 general elections, the spokesperson of the Kwankwasiyya Movement, Hajiya Binta Spikin said that Kwankwaso did not join the APC in secret; therefore, anytime he decides to leave the party, he would make it public.
“Politics is all about opinion. Anybody can decide what is best for him and his followers. So, if Kwankwaso decides to defect from the APC today, nobody can stop him because the future of his politics lies with him and nobody else,” Hajiya Spikin said.
It was observed that apart from Senator Lado who contested alongside Kwankwaso in 2015 and is planning to re-contest in 2019, the current private secretary to Governor Ganduje, Alhaji Ibrahim Kankarofi and Kano State Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna, have also shown interest in the Kano central seat.
However, there’s an indication that Senator Kwankwaso would vie for the seat of the president in 2019. The popular slogan among members of the Kwankwasiyya group in Kano now is: “Daga Daura, sai Madobi, Daga Madobi sai Villa,” meaning, after Buhari, Kwankwaso will be the next president.
But Kwankwaso’s presidential ambition under any political party will also face a serious setback in Kano, as far as Ganduje is concerned. The governor had, on several occasions, made it clear that there would be no vacancy in Aso Rock in 2019.
The governor’s utterances indicate that he is determined to deliver the state to Buhari in 2019. Precisely, the governor promised to secure five million votes for the president in the next general elections.
Receiving the former governor of Abia State, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu in his office last week, Governor Ganduje assured that President Buhari would win in Kano come 2019.
“Buhari has never lost election in Kano, including when he ran on the platform of an opposition party. Now, he is a sitting president and I am a sitting governor in Kano State.
“The political language in Kano is: Buhari is Kano and Kano is Buhari. So, as far as Kano is concerned, Buhari is going to win in next year’s presidential election,” he assured.
It is no longer news that Kwankwaso and Ganduje have been at loggereds. While the former is determined to ensure that the latter does not come back as governor of Kano State in 2019, Ganduje is also committed to scuttling his predecessor’s political goals.
Alhaji Yusuf Ado Kibiya, a former commissioner for land and physical planning during the Kwankwaso administration and a political analyst, said it would be difficult for Kwankwaso to repeat what he did in 2015.
He said, “Remember, when the former governor was on the seat of power he maneuvered his way into the Red Chamber on the platform of the APC. The governorship seat gave him the opportunity to secure the senatorial ticket after he lost the presidential primary election. He was the alpha and omega in the state, and you know that our political parties are not given the power of supremacy.
“Now, the reverse is the case. Kwankwaso is not governor and has no power over the APC. So there is no magic that can make him control the political machineries of the state to determine his future and that of other politicians in the state. If he had respected the incumbent governor, he would not face such challenges in his future political undertakings.’’
Kibiya said the possibility of Kwankwaso repeating the political maneuvers to escape from the hurdles that await him in 2019 was very slim because of his antecedents.
“Information at my disposal indicates that Kwankwaso and his followers will eventually decamp to another political party. But to be honest with you, the senator’s decision will not take him anywhere politically because whichever party he joins, he will certainly meet other people who worked for the progress of the party for many years. And I don’t think they will allow him to just come and take over the party overnight,” he assured.
Also, a former commissioner for environment in the state and an APC chieftain, Alhaji Ibrahim Dan Azumi Gwarzo, said there was a difference between a governor and a senator, adding that the constitution of the APC had put a lot of influence and power on governors, as well as the president as the overall leader of the party.
“You know, as a leader you can do a lot of things to control the party in your favour. Look at what Kwankwaso did in 2015. He ran for the seat of president, and after he lost the battle in the primary election, he ran for the Senate and won. Although he was taken to court, in the long run, it was decided that there was nothing wrong with his action. But I am sure that this cannot be repeated this time around,’’ he said.
Another problem, according to Gwarzo, is that last week, President Buhari ruled out the possibility of meeting with members of the nPDP. This has also been seen as a political minus to Kwankwaso, who is also a member of the nPDP. Gwarzo said that Senator Kwankwaso would have solved part of his problems had Buhari agreed to meet with them.
Daily Trust on Sunday also gathered that Senator Kwankwaso had applied for the registration of the Kwankwasiyya Movement as a political party, with a view to allowing him get a platform for his presidential ambition in 2019. The former governor is only waiting for the response of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Despite that, Gwarzo said it would be too late for the senator to make any impact in 2019, as according to him, it would be difficult for him to sell the new party to the electorate across the country. Gwarzo also cited financial challenges among the factors that would scuttle Kwankwaso’s chances, even if he registers Kwankwasiyya as a political party.