JOHN ALECHENU and TED ODOGWU examine the political battle between the Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje and his erstwhile boss, Ex-Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso; the significance of the recent gale of defections which hit the state chapter of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party and the impact it is likely to have on the politics of the state in the future
The 2019 general elections have come and gone but the effects of the acrimony between two former political allies turned rivals namely: Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and his erstwhile boss, Ex-Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, still resonates across the state on a daily basis. Ganduje had over the years played the role of a loyal deputy and second in command in the Kwankwaso-led Kwankwasiyya political family. He was seen as a loyal ally and a friend to the former governor. This, perhaps, more than competence, earned him the confidence of his former boss, who saw in him a man he could trust. He, thus, picked Ganduje as the heritor in whom he was well pleased. The two men worked assiduously to win the election together. Consequently, Ganduje successfully assumed office as the successor to a former boss whom he had praised in syrupy words.
Music and songs, however, changed when Ganduje decided to become his own man after assuming office as governor in 2015. A bitter quarrel, therefore, ensured between the two loyal political father and son. Kwankwaso felt Ganduje didn’t deserve a second term in 2019. Kwankwaso, in anger, dropped the broom of the All Progressives Congress where he, along with Ganduje, sort refuge in 2015. He decided to take shelter under the umbrella of the Peoples Democratic Party when he felt he wasn’t receiving the respect he deserved from the Ganduje gang. Unknown to many, Kwankwaso’s preference for his son-in-law, Abba Kabiru Yusuf, as the PDP governorship candidate in the 2019 elections, didn’t go down well with some of the PDP’s stakeholders, many of who were die-hard Kwankwasiya loyalists. The party prevailed and members rallied round to support its candidate. This resolve almost paid off until the governorship election was declared inconclusive and a re-run was held with Ganduje declared winner. It perhaps, took the Supreme Court judgement affirming Ganduje’s victory as the duly elected governor to finally expose the hidden cracks within the state chapter of the PDP.
A gale of defections from the PDP into the APC soon followed. Perhaps none had the effect of the erstwhile state chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Rabiu Suleiman-Bichi, and other prominent members of Kwankwaso’s political family to the Ganduje political family.
A Plateau State based political analyst, Mr James Pam, while speaking on the defections noted, “The effect of the Bichi-led defection from the PDP into the APC will linger with the Kwankwasiya group for a very long time.
“You are talking of people who lived and espoused Kwankwaso’s political ideology. These were the people, who perhaps were behind the drawing of its blue print. Their departure, if not properly managed, will signal the end of the Kwankwasiya group.”
He explained that Bichi was one of a few men standing in Kwankwaso’s political camp. The former PDP state chairman served as the Managing Director of the Kano State Urban Planning and Development Board and also Commissioner for Lands during Kwankwaso’s first tenure as governor (1999-2003).
He was appointed secretary to the state government during the second term (2011-2015). He also served briefly in the early part of Ganduje’s first tenure, but resigned at the height of the feud between his political leaders to pitch tent with Kwankwaso.
While the state secretary of the PDP, Shehu Sagagi, dismissed Bichi’s defection as having no impact on the PDP and the Kwankwasiya movement, the Kano APC Chairman, Alhaji Sanusi Abbas, disagreed. Sagagi argued that the PDP which Kwankwaso leads was used to people betraying it in times of “little challenges.”
He said, “The current development is nothing new because in Hausa, we have a proverb, which says: ‘where ever they beat a donkey, it must be on a scar of yesterday’s beating.’ So, it is not a new development. We have a leader, who is Dr Rabiu Kwankwaso, he is used to this. This is even what is making him stronger and stronger.”
In response, Abbas expressed the opinion that Bichi’s exit from the PDP sounded the death knell for not only the party, but also what was left of the Kwankwasiya political structure in Kano.
He said, “The PDP, as at today, as you can see, is no longer a political party, it’s just like an association, controlled by one individual, Kwankwaso. We have nothing to worry about because Kwankwaso is no longer a threat or force to be reckoned with in the state.”
Speaking on the issue, a political scientist, Mr Joseph Atuba, said, “The average Nigerian politician cares very little about ideology. Rather, they already concerned about winning elections. If a particular political party does not align with his/her political goal at any point in time, he leaves to join another. Very few can be patient enough to nurture political party to maturity. We should be used to this by now.”
He further said, “This isn’t new. If you recall, it was in this same Kano that sometime before the 1983 elections, some politicians led by the then governor, Dr. Abubakar Rimi, dumped Aminu Kano’s Peoples Redemption Party to join Nnamdi Azikiwe’s Nigeria Peoples Party. As to how what is happening now will affect politics in Kano in particular and Nigeria in general, I dare say, the people of Kano still love President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC which Ganduje currently leads. Unless this changes tomorrow, most of them will remain loyal to the APC and the governor.”
While welcoming Bichi and a host of other former political associates, Ganduje, whose political fortunes received a boost by the defections, used the occasion to shed light on the kind of relationship he claimed he enjoyed with his former boss.
In a move that surprised many, he said, “Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso does not want any other person to outshine him. I know Kwankwaso a lot more than anyone else. He is a kind of person that knows everything, knows better than any other person and, who is self-centered. Whatever this man asks you to do or to pursue will be for his own benefit, not yours.
“I know all his political antics, which border on deception and doggedness, but I endured him for all the donkey’s years we were together. He will never appreciate you for whatever you did for him, be it big or small. When we contested election in 1999, ‘Wallahi’, I was his boss because I paid for his posters and mobilised people for him from all the 44 local government areas of Kano State. In fact, Kwankwaso did not win the primary election in 1999, I won the election, but we were reconciled.”
In what many considered a veiled response to Ganduje’s comments, Kwankwaso was quoted as saying, “At the end of Ganduje’s tenure in 2023, he will regret his actions not to have formally handed over to the winner of the 2019 governorship election.”
On his part, the Kano State Commissioner for Information, Sports and Culture, Mallam Mohammed Garba, said, “As a democrat, Governor Ganduje has always been loyal to the people of Kano. All of his actions in the past and now have always been taken in their best interests. His politics had always been about improving the lives of the people. With our victory at the Supreme Court, our appeal to all will continue to be that all people of goodwill should join hands with this administration. A solid foundation for the development of Kano was laid within the last four years, the next four years will, by the grace of God, be bigger and better.”
Also speaking, Adamu Yusuf, an indigene of Kano, expressed satisfaction with the unfolding political drama. He noted that Kwankwaso was the ultimate loser because his politics was allegedly built around his personality.
He said, “I am happy, as he failed in his plot to impose his puppet on the good people of Kano.”
An elder statesman and Second Republic politician, Dr Junaid Mohammed, reiterated the view that the character of the Nigerian politician irrespective of political party, is unlikely to change anytime soon.
He said “These defectors were people who, less than two weeks ago, were abusing the same governor. How come they are today joining the party where the governor is the preeminent figure?
“I don’t understand. What will happen is like what a one-time Prime Minister of Britain, Harold Wilson said, ‘one week is too long in politics.’ Here, you are talking about 3 years, anything can happen. I don’t think the resignation of the chairman or any other member of a political party for that matter will change anything much.
“The reason is simple: there are a number of people with other ambitions and are likely to leave one party to join another party where they feel their interests will be better served?”
In a response to another question on the consequences of political happenings in Kano on the larger Nigerian scene, he said, “Historically, individuals and political parties who fail to deliver themselves in Kano and Lagos - by this I mean, people who are in no position to be accepted or tolerated in Kano and Lagos, have had difficulty running the country. Most leaders who failed by quite some coincidence; to win the hearts and minds of most people in these two states, have had turbulent times governing this country. To that extent, I would say any politician worth his salt will ignore Kano at his own peril.”
Political pundits are of the view that the politics in the state with its five million voters, will not be the same by 2023. Alignments and realignments will continue to be the order of the day as politicians explore new frontiers to feather their political nests in a bid to achieve strong-minded political goals.