Anxiety in Kano NNPP as party's senator invites Ganduje, Barau to events

Controversy is trailing the invitation of the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje, and the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, to the personal ceremonies of an opposition senator in Kano.

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Kawu Sumaila, representing Kano South Senatorial District under the New Nigeria People Party (NNPP), defected from the APC in the build-up to the 2023 elections following a protracted leadership crisis in the party.

In a statement on Friday, the deputy senate president said he led a delegation of federal lawmakers to Mr Sumaila’s children’s wedding.

“Today, (21 February), I led the Senate delegation to the wedding ceremony of Senator Sulaiman Abdulrahman Kawu Sumaila’s and Alhaji Abdulmanaf Yunusa Sarina’s children in Sumaila town, Kano State.

“The weddings of Dr. Khadija Suleiman Abdulrahman Kawu Sumaila and Faisal Abdulmanaf Sarina as well as that of Maryam Abdulrahman Kawu Sumaila and Bello Ibrahim Ma’aji were conducted by Professor Salisu Shehu, the Imam of the Sumaila Jumaat Mosque.

“The National Chairman of our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, CFR, also attended the wedding. May Allah bless their union and give them patience, endurance, tolerance, and love. Congratulations to the newlyweds,” Mr Jibrin posted.

Messrs Jibrin and Ganduje also on Saturday attended the first convocation ceremony of Al-Istiqama University, a private university reportedly founded by Mr Sulaiman in the Sumaila Local Government Area of Kano.

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The developments have caused disquiet among members of the NNPP on social media and other platforms amid speculation that the NNPP senator would defect to the APC.

The NNPP members asked why Mr Sumaila ignored Governor Abba Yusuf and their party leader, Rabiu Kwankwaso, but embraced opposition figures, including former governor Ibrahim Shekarau of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Mr Sumaila could not be immediately reached to comment on the development, as his known phone number didn’t connect Saturday evening.

PREMIUM TIMES understands that Mr Sumaila and several of his colleagues from the NNPP from the Kano South had opposed Governor Yusuf’s decision on the reinstatement of the deposed Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi, and the repeal of the State Emirate Council Law 2019 that gave the state five emirate councils.

The lawmakers from the Kano southern district said the dissolution of the four emirates created by the immediate past administration of former Governor Ganduje and the removal of all five emirs were against the interest of their constituents.

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Since then, Mr Sumaila and some of his NNPP colleagues from the zone have distanced themselves from the activities of the NNPP-led state government.

Should Mr Sumaila leave the NNPP for the APC, he will join a growing number of opposition lawmakers who have left their party to join the ruling party.

The NNPP is Nigeria’s fourth-largest political party based on representation in both federal and state parliaments. However, Kano is the main base of the party and is the only state it was elected to govern.

The party’s presidential candidate in the last presidential election, Mr Kwankwaso, also came a distant fourth in the election, winning in only Kano State.