Despite not having declared interest to defect to the All Progressives Congress, the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party in the 2023 general election, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso’s rumoured plan to join the APC, which was fuelled by his recent meeting with President Bola Tinubu, has sent panic to the party’s leaders in Kano State, Ejiofor Alike reports
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Though the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in the 2023 general election and former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has not indicated interest to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC), his recent meeting with President Bola Tinubu has spread panic to the APC leaders in Kano State.
Ordinarily, his defection to APC should have been a welcome development and a boost to the fortunes of the party in the state but the party’s leaders are jittery about his perceived domineering influence and his capacity to hijack the party structure from them.
Indeed, Kwankwaso is the undisputed political leader of Kano State despite the presence of key national figures of the ruling APC, such as the Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin and the National Chairman of the ruling party, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje.
Kwankwaso has remained silent on his rumoured defection plan, but APC leaders believe he visited Tinubu, whom he had described as his friend, to broker a defection deal.
This development is said to be causing panic in Ganduje and Jibrin’s camps.
Jibrin is believed to be eyeing the APC governorship ticket in 2027 and Kwankwaso’s return to the ruling party will make his ambition dead on arrival, given the former governor’s capacity to hijack the APC structure with his massive followers, largely from the Kano Central senatorial zone, which accounts for the winning votes in the state.
Kwankwaso’s NNPP has only one senator in the state, Rafai Sani Hanga, representing the Kano Central, as the party’s fortunes have continued to dwindle with its recent loss of the Senator representing Kano South, Sumaila Kawu, and two members of the House of Representatives, Aliyu Sani Madaki and Kabiru Usman Rurum, to the APC.
However, Kwankwaso has maintained a firm grip on Kano Central.
Jibrin is representing Kano North, where Ganduje hails from.
As the permutations on 2027 intensify, the immediate past Secretary to the state Government (SSG), Dr. Abdullahi Baffa Bichi, who is also from Kano North, has also joined forces with Jibrin ahead of the next elections.
Bichi’s removal as SSG from the NNPP-controlled government in December 2024, was said to be linked to his strained relationship with Kwankwaso and Governor Abba Yusuf.
Describing the NNPP leaders as “masters of betrayal,” Bichi had threatened to reveal what he described as “explosive evidence” against political figures in the state, accusing them of deceit and betrayal.
“I have documents, videos, and voice notes that will show everyone who they really are,” Bichi reportedly said.
The former SSG’s strained relationship with Governor Yusuf and Kwankwaso first came to light on October 14, 2024 when he was suspended from the NNPP.
Though the Kano NNPP is accused of not reaching out to its supporters, Kwankwaso still enjoys massive grassroots support.
It is largely due to the large followership he enjoys that President Tinubu has been courting him, and at the same time, working closely with his sworn political enemy, Ganduje.
Ganduje was Kwankwaso’s deputy when he was governor from 2011 to 2015 but they eventually fell apart.
Kwankwaso’s perceived closeness to Tinubu is said to have unsettled Jibrin, Ganduje and their supporters who fear that he might join the APC and take over the party’s structure.
Shortly before he was sworn in, Tinubu had in May 2023 met for four hours with the leader of the NNPP in Paris, France.
The meeting, brokered by Kwankwaso’s strong ally, Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin, who was formerly in Tinubu’s camp as his presidential campaign spokesman, had fuelled speculations that the then President-elect might bring Kwankwaso into his cabinet in line with his promise to run a government of national unity.
After Tinubu’s swearing in, the president also met with Kwankwaso in June 2023 at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, also fuelling strong speculations of the possibility of the former Kano State governor joining Tinubu’s cabinet.
Following Kwankwaso’s latest visit to Tinubu, several groups and individuals believed to be enjoying the support of the APC leaders in the state have declared that the former governor would not be welcomed to the APC.
At a press conference held in Kano last Tuesday, the leader of a group that identified itself as Kano APC Youth and Students Council (KASASCO), Yahaya Kabo, declared that the party was better off without the return of the NNPP leader.
“Kwankwaso’s return would yield no benefits to the party, either directly or indirectly, considering his evident political decline. Under the current leadership of Hon. Abdullahi Abbas, the APC in Kano State boasts a strong presence, with two sitting senators, members in the House of Representatives, and the State House of Assembly”
According to Kabo, the NNPP was facing massive defections, with key figures who contributed significantly to its success in the 2023 general election abandoning the party to join the ruling APC in Kano.
“Among the defectors are serving Senator Abdurrahman Kawu Sumaila, representing Kano South, whose departure undoubtedly weakens the NNPP, as they were crucial to the party’s electoral success,” Kabo said.
Also, in what appears to be a mockery of the NNPP leader and Governor Yusuf, the state Chairman of APC, Abdullahi Abbas had told journalists that the party was aware of the speculations of Kwankwaso’s impending defection to APC.
“We are fully aware that some people are desperate to join the APC because they have scuttled their political goodwill and have become political lepers in the national scheme of things and are looking to the APC for political relevance.
“We are also aware that some politicians are trying to run away from accounting for their corrupt misdeeds both in government and party administration, and seeking refuge in the APC to escape from the fangs of anti-corruption agencies like the EFCC and ICPC. However, joining APC as a political party is not a panacea for escaping from their past sins.”
Apparently referring to Kwankwaso’s supporters under the aegis of the Kwankwasiyya movement, which has become an ideological subgroup in NNPP, the state APC chairman warned that his party would not encourage or promote the existence of cult-like associations in the name of political activities or groupings in its fold.
But reacting, the state Chairman of the NNPP, Hashimu Dungurawa, described the report of Kwankwaso’s planned defection as baseless.
According to Dungurawa, while Kwankwaso does not need Kano APC’s approval for his political decisions, there are currently no plans for him to defect
He described those behind the defection rumour as mischief makers.
However, the fear of Kwankwaso’s defection has continued to unsettle the leaders of Kano APC.
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