COVER News Editor (Ag), Stanley Onyekwere How Tinubu-Kwankwaso romance is unsettling Kano politicics

By Mustapha Adamu

The recent meeting between the president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the presidential candidate of New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, may have signalled a new dawn in the politics of Kano state, the second most populous state in the country.

Although the meeting between the two political leaders, held in Paris had become a subject of national discourse and elicited reactions from both NNPP and APC stalwarts who are either in support or against the development.

Reports had it that the meeting was at the instance of Tinubu, who extended the hand of friendship to Kwankwaso with a view to working together with him after he takes over from President Muhammadu Buhari on May 29.

Tinubu, according to reports, wants to work with Kwankwaso to achieve the unity government he intends to run when he takes over on May 29.

Indications are rife that the Presidentelect may want to work with Kwankwaso as a politician in his own right who has a large followership, not only in Kano but across the North and he’s even said to have promised ministerial position to the former governor of Kano state.

The meeting of the two politicians in France which was well publicised has expectedly generated suspicions that the power structure in Kano would soon be restructured.

Accordingly, the question that readily comes to the mind of politics watchers is, what would be the fate of the outgoing Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, who was at the forefront of Tinubu’s campaigners, even before he formally declared interest to contest for president.

Ganduje at several fora had openly expressed his support for Tinubu even before the former governor of Lagos state won the APC presidential ticket.

Ganduje had indeed become part and parcel of Tinubu’s campaign and even though Tinubu lost Kano to Kwankwaso, the governor was able to garner over half a million votes for the President-elect.

However, looking at this scenario, there are fears that Tinubu may dump Ganduje as he has not openly promised any appointment to Ganduje yet, the way reports said he had offered ministerial slot to Kwankwaso.

But, why isTinubu wooing Kwankwaso?, This is the question on the lips of observers of the political situation in Kano and beyond.

Weekend Peoples Daily gathered from sources privy to the meeting between Tinubu and Kwankwaso that he is wooing Kwankwaso because he believes he has the capacity to help his government succeed.

Tinubu is also said ro believe that Kwankwaso has a support base that would help Tinubu’s 2027 ambition should the former governor of Kano defect to APC.

• As fears envelop Ganduje’s camp

So, the question is, if eventually Tinubu is able to lure Kwankwaso to APC, what then would be Ganduje’s fate?

According to political observers, Tinubu may have considered Kwankwaso’s political support base before he approached him for discussions.

They have also suggested that Tinubu is Kwankwaso’s friend as they served at a National Assembly.

Again, If Kwankwaso decides to defect to APC, he would join with a governor, two senators, 18 House of Representatives members and about 27 House of Assembly members, leaving Ganduje with only one Senator, six House of Representatives members and 13 assembly members.

Based on this arithmetic, Kwankwaso would definitely take control of the APC in Kano and Ganduje would be shoved aside except he agrees to play a second fiddle to his former boss.

But the question is, would Kwankwaso accept to be under Ganduje while he holds the majority of elective position in the state.?

This might be the reason why Tinubu decided to seal the deal with Kwankwaso in view of the fact that he has strong political structures that would help him win Kano in 2027.

Weekend Peoples Daily understands that should this happen, crisis would be inevitable in the party as some APC members in the state had already kicked against any move for Kwankwaso to return to the party.

Abdulmajid Danbilki Kwamanda, one of President Muhammadu Buhari ‘s ally and APC chieftain said Tinubu should expect “war” if he eventually woo Kwankwaso back to APC.

In an emergency press briefing with newsmen in Kano on Thursday, Kwamanda described such an attempt by Tinubu as a betrayal of the trust and commitment of his supporters in the region, which they would not handle lightly.

He warned that Kwankwaso has an agenda that would bring the APC down if he is allowed into the party as he attempted doing in the past but could not succeed and had to leave for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which he shattered and left for the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) where he became it’s presidential candidate.

“We in the Northwest do not welcome Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso to our party APC.

“We do not accept the idea of Bola Tinubu giving him any appointment even as low as a messenger in our dear party.

“Should Tinubu ignore our outcry and appoint Kwankwaso, we are going to disrupt the entire APC in the North and withdraw our support for him.

“If we set the party on fire, not even

Tinubu as a president can put out that fire. We are the north and the people are our people.

“We have invested all our efforts, integrity and dignity in the North to mobilize the people to vote for Tinubu, they refused to vote for a fellow northerner just for him to win in the region and now come and embrace our major opposition. We will not accept that.

“We assure Tinubu that we will turn our backs on him if he decides do ignore our call, we don’t welcome Kwankwaso to our party and don’t give him any appointment.

This is our message to all” Danbilki declared.

Also, the APC spokesman in Kano, Ahmed Afuwa, said even if Kwankwaso eventually returned to the party, he must be under the leadership of Ganduje.

According to Aruwa,” This meeting between Tinubu and Kwankwaso means Kwankwaso wants to return to the party he labelled as anti-masses party.

“So, we are not against his return but he has to labour for the party from the scratch. We will not allow any attempt to impose him over the structure already built by Ganduje. He has to be under Ganduje,” Aruwa said.

Whether Kwankwaso is returning to APC or not, only time will tell, especially as Tinubu hinted that there would be more meetings between both of them.