Kwankwaso: Buhari‘ll Never Win in Kano
Former Kano State Governor, Sen. Rabiu Kwankwaso yesterday said President Muhammadu Buhari would never win in the state contrary to the claim of the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi.
Kwankwaso, currently representing Kano Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly, also said his defection would not only affect Buhari’s chance in Kano State, but had already brought down the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He dared the president in a statement his Media Adviser, Mrs. Binta Spikin issued yesterday in reaction to Amaechi’s comment, noting that Buhari “will lose in Kano even though he uses federal might.”
During a session with journalist son Friday, Amaechi had said President Buhari “will win in Sokoto, Kano and Bauchi states in the 2019 presidential elections even if he (Buhari) is taken to the states on a sick bed.”
He had acknowledged that the Sokoto State Governor, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal and his Kwara State counterpart, Mr. Abdul fat ah Ahmed would leave the APC, noting that the former had presidential ambition.
He said: “On those that defected at the House of Rep- resentatives and Senate, where do they come from? They come from areas that the president is comfortable. Do you honestly believe that the president will lose election in Sokoto? We are not God. But it is one of his comfort zones.
“If you bring the president on a sick bed to Bauchi and Kano States, he will win and he has never lost election in Bauchi. But that is a bit arrogant on our side; we should not underestimate them. I am not God. It is only God who can say the APC will win or not,” Amaechi said.
Kw an kw a so, however, replied in a statement that the president would not win in Kano State whether he chose to use federal might or not.
The statement said: “I think his defection will greatly affect the votes in 2019. His defection will not only affect the chances of the APC in Kano, but has already brought down the APC in the state. “If you look across Nigeria today, not Kano alone, there’s nowhere in Nigeria that you do not have the presence of Kwankwasiyya, Kwankwaso’s political movement Kw an kw a so.
“Kano is his home base. He is well grounded in Kano. Even without the government, he had a 60 percent of the voters. So what do you think will happen now that he has joined forces with people like Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau?
“Even if the federal government puts whatever in place, there is no way President Buhari will win in Kano State. Definitely, Buhari will lose Kano. He stands a very good chance to win B uh ari. We are covered.”
Kw an kw as ow as one of the 15 senators who defected from the APC to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) last Tuesday.
In his reaction to Kw an kw as o’ s, Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje had said them ass defection would not affect the party’s chances politically.
He had also said Kw an kw as o’ s exit “will not be felt in the state. I want you to go and study the situation on ground in Kano, Kw an kw as o’ s defection does not change the state’ s political mood. Nobody cares to be disturbed by their action.”
Kwankwaso has been in a fierce battle with Ganduje after the 2015 general election. Over the past two years, several attacks and reprisal attacks between the supporters of the two politicians have been reported.
Okupe: 2019 Election Battle Between Saraki, Buhari
A chieftain of the Accord Party and former Presidential Spokesperson, Dr. Doyin Okupe has projected that 2019 presidential election would be a battle between Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki and President Muhammadu Buhari.
Okupe stated this while analysing the recent defection of some National Assembly members from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), on Channels television political show, Politics Today, on Friday.
Asked about the motive behind his projection, Okupe said: “if Saraki is wise, the best thing for him to do would be to contest 2019 presidential elections, because as it stands in Nigeria presently, Saraki is becoming the most important political figure outside the Presidency.
“And from what I am seeing, the battle for the presidency in 2019 is between Saraki and Buhari.”
It would be recalled that Okupe, while speaking on Channels television’s Sunrise Daily, recently, had advised the Senate President to leverage on his increasing popularity and contest the 2019 presidential election.
On the wave of defection that has hit the ruling APC, Okupe noted that it had become inevitable for Saraki to leave the APC, wondering how could here main in a party where he had been constantly disgraced, humiliated over the years?
He said: “After stripping you naked they are now trying to cover you up with a piece of cloth at the dying minute when they saw you have grown to become a threat to their survival. It will be unwise for him to remain in the APC if he truly wishes himself well.”
Discarding insinuations from some quarters that Sara ki would lose his seat if he is sacked from the A PC or he decides to leave the party, Okupe said a sack from a political party “does not in validate his election as a member of the Senate and the Senate President.
“Don’t forget that Senator Buruji Kashamu has just been expelled from the PDP and he remains in the Senate. If the APC decides to sack Sara ki, Sara ki cannot lose his seat as the President of the Senate.”