Kwankwaso’s associates woo Shekarau as ex-governor quits PDP

A new twist has appeared in the political drama in Kano State as top associates of former governor Rabiu Kwankwaso visited Ibrahim Shekarau in Abuja on Thursday.

Sources said the visitors are trying to persuade the bitter rival of their ally to return to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which he left ahead of the 2019 elections following the return of Mr Kwankwaso to the party.

Mr Shekarau joined the All Progressives Congress (APC) after the PDP handed over its leadership in the state to Mr Kwankwaso, who had been a member of the party since its inception in 1998, until he defected to the newly formed APC in 2014.

Now, Mr Kwankwaso wants to defect from the PDP, this time to the little-known New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).

Mr Shekarau, himself a former governor who is now the senator for Kano Central district, is also no longer comfortable in the ruling APC. He is at loggerheads with Governor Abdullahi Ganduje over the control of the party in the state.

On Thursday, the Chief of Staff to former Governor Kwankwaso, Adamu Dangwani, alongside Danburam Nuhu, a former federal lawamaker; Yusuf Danbatta, a former commissioner; and Hadiza Adado; who are all long-time allies of Mr Kwankwaso, visited Mr Shekarau in Abuja over the changing political weather in the state.

The politicians have reportedly vowed not to follow Mr Kwankwaso to the NNPP.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mr Kwankwaso said he would dump the PDP this month.

Ahead of his arrival, the NNPP has dissolved its Kano state executive committee and appointed Mr Kwankwaso’s loyalist, Haruna Doguwa, as acting chairperson.

The spokesperson for Mr Shekarau, Sule Ya’u, confirmed the visit of the politicians to his principal.

He told reporters that Mr Dangwani and some “members of ‘PDP Kwankwasiyya’ faction led by a one time member of the House of Representatives Hon Danburan, paid a consultative visit to His Excellency Senator Ibrahim Shekarau at his residence in Abuja.”

Mr Ya’u did not disclose the reason for the visit. However, analyst have said it was in connection with the reluctance of some members of the Kwankwaso political family not to join him again in leaving the PDP.

Sources said the PDP politicians were trying to persuade Mr Shekarau to rejoin the PDP as Mr Kwankwaso is leaving for the NNPP.

Mr Shekarau had in the build up to the 2019 election left the PDP for APC, alleging injustice to him by the national leadership of the party.

He was protesting against the PDP’s decision to concede 51 per cent of members of its executives from state to ward levels to Mr Kwankwaso, who had just returned to the party from the APC.

As Mr Kwankwaso leaves for the NNPP, there are speculations in the state that Mr Shekarau may, once again, rejoin the PDP if he loses at the Supreme Court where he is challenging the control of the APC structure in the state by Mr Ganduje.

Kano is the most populous state in Northern Nigeria and is considered by the two major political parties as strategic. President Muhammadu Buhari got his highest votes, about 1.9 million, in the state in the 2015, a feat he also repeated in 2019.

With the president no longer a candidate, the two parties are expected to make a play for the rich electoral field of Kano, which Mr Kwankwaso wil also rely on for any consequential run in the 2023 presidential race.