The indispensability of Ashiru in Kaduna PDP By Babangida Kakaki

History was made in Kaduna politics last Thursday when a frontline politician who is a gubernatorial material returned to his former abode, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), after a little sojourn to the All Progressives Congress (APC). The return of Hon. Isa Ashiru to PDP is not only a home coming but a revival of the party’s spirit, to reassert its rightful place as an opposition party against the antics of the APC.
The event, which took place at his ward in Kudan amidst pomp and pageantry, had thousands of people that cut across party affiliation, tribal or ethnic sentiments. It took the APC by surprise and from sources close to the party’s hierarchy, dealt a blow to their strategy for 2019 polls. “The presence of multitude of people at the Ashiru’s decamping to PDP including the APC members is a pointer that the APC’s house has fallen apart, and the centre cannot hold, in fulfilling the promises of the electorate,” says Dr Mahmud Sambajo, a political science lecturer at Kaduna State University.
Ashiru’s return to PDP, according to pundits, has given the party strength and impulse and re-ignited political activities in the state, due mainly to his weight and his vibrant political structure. In essence, as a founding member of PDP, before circumstances forced him and much other political class to decamp to APC prior to 2015, Ashiru who contested for governorship in the APC alongside Governor Nasir el-Rufai seems to be the only material PDP has ahead of 2019 polls.
His return has, based on public poll, reinvigorated PDP, presenting it as the vibrant opposition to the antics of the el-Rufai led APC. It also poses a threat to el-Rufai’s second term ambition. That is why ever since his re-entry into PDP, the state APC officials and el-Rufai’s appointees are expressing their fears, apprehension and displeasure because of the formidability of the man in politics. Hitherto, PDP did not have a rallying gubernatorial candidate that could give el-Rufai APC-led administration a good fight for its money. Now it has one in the person of Isa Ashiru.
Two essential things occurred with Ashiru’s decamping to PDP – the minus inflicted on the APC ranks, whereby he left the APC in company of thousands of supporters who vowed not to support it again and his old political structure he lubricates, coupled with the disillusionment and displeasure of all classes of electorate in the state. “Without contradiction, anyone given the ticket in PDP can defeat el-Rufai hands down in free and fair elections in 2019, because el-Rufai has killed the chances of the APC through his draconian leadership,” says Alhaji Salisu Mai Masara of Lere local government area. So far, Ashiru is ahead of at least three other aspirants, though many are not considered serious enough to warrant attention.
On APC as a ruling party, it has been reliably gathered that the party is in limbo, and devastated by the decamping of Isa Ashiru to the PDP, because they know him very well and his ability to mobilise support against them. Grapevine sources said Governor el-Rufai himself was indisposed about Ashiru’s return to the PDP, saying that, ‘Let him go to anywhere he likes. APC could still make headway with what we have been able to achieve.’ This statement, even if true, could be interpreted to mean that not only projects even if done could make people support a politician, what about dignity and honor which they have been deprived of.
Many people do not know Isa Ashiru and his political heavyweight. For the record, Ashiru has a Masters degree in Business Administration and was a career civil servant in Kaduna state for many years before he ventured into politics. He contested for chairmanship of Makarfi and later Kudan local government area, but lost. He has been in the politics since the 90s. In 1999, he was elected as a member of Kaduna State House of Assembly for two consecutive terms. As a result of his people-oriented representation, he won a seat in the House of Representatives (Makarfi/Kudan federal constituency) for two consecutive terms. It was from that position that the people of Kaduna state beckoned him to contest for governorship under the APC, after the merger. Ashiru did well in APC formation in Kaduna state, because he allowed his wealth of experience, resources and vast connections to bear on the party.
APC gubernatorial primaries were rigged even before it took place, when President Muhammadu Buhari endorsed el-Rufai’s candidacy in a public event, thereby foreclosing the chances of any other aspirant. That was what worked against Ashiru in 2015. Had there been a level playing field, Ashiru would have defeated el-Rufai. In addition to the dictatorial and controversial style of leadership that el-Rufai exhibits, coupled with the total lack of confidence of the ordinary voters, APC could be on the verge of collapse, as it approaches 2019 elections.
As the PDP looks forward to give APC a run for its money and wrestle power in 2019, it needs a formidable, experienced, and benevolent person who could do that, this they have found in Isa Ashiru. “He is the only popular and able person to defeat el-Rufai in the forthcoming elections,” says Ambassador Sule Buba in an interview. “This is because he has all it takes to contest and right the wrongs of el-Rufai APC led government, which has wreaked havoc on the democratic dispensation and created crisis of legitimacy in the system.”
For the PDP, it’s time to unite, re-strategise to wrestle power from el-Rufai and his goons, who deceived the people in the name of change mantra and inflicted more hardship upon the people. And the person to do that, ought to be a rallying point and with credentials like Ashiru. Is there any politician worth his name for this gigantic task besides him? Only time shall tell as we move closer to primaries.
Kakaki writes from Kaduna