With the race for Kano Government House heating up, leading political gladiators in the Peoples Democratic Party in the state are poised to use their influence and connection to clinch the party’s gubernatorial ticket. BASHIR MOHAMMED takes a look at the raging titanic battle and how closeness to those in the corridors of power could serve as a bargaining chip in the quest to clinch the PDP’s ticket.
It has become crystal clear that the race for Kano Government House is undoubtedly going to be extremely dicey, given the level of extensive intrigues and behind the scene maneuvers by leading gubernatorial gladiators who had expressed interest to contest for the plum position.
The incumbent governor, Engr. Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has not publicly anointed the person to succeed him despite constant pressure and permutations from all sections of the political divide.
He was up and doing in telling anyone who cared to listen that the issue of anointing the person to succeed him does not arise and keeps saying that everyone is free to buy his or her form for the contest, since the nation is operating a democratic system.
It was however the contention of Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso that he would not impose the issue of consensus on aspiring gubernatorial flagbearers, by crude tactics and executive fiat and that if consensus fails, there would be the need to go for the primaries.
What is now boggling the minds of many political stakeholders in the state is the fate of his deputy, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, who is yet to make a formal declaration for the contest in spite of the curiosity of those who are interested in his participation in the contest.
The deputy governor, out of his own political calculus, has appeared to be keeping a sealed lip, knowing the implication of jumping the gun that may lead him to commit a regrettable faux pas; until when the time is rife.
Knowing his pedigree as an intellectual figure, Ganduje saw the compelling need to maintain his loyal stance to the governor, considering the inescapable fact that he is part and parcel of a government that has recorded monumental strides.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as a bastion of stiff opposition in the 2015 gubernatorial contest is striving to slug it out with the All Progressive Congress (APC) with the power of incumbency feared to take a heavy toll on the party.
It is a point of fact that the PDP in Kano is poised to take the advantage of possible Log-jam in the APC, if all avenues for diplomacy in producing an acceptable gubernatorial flag bearer failed to reach fruition.
Many PDP members have appeared to have predicated their hope of returning to Kano Government House on the premise that president Goodluck Jonathan had instilled some aura of confidence into their minds that in 2015 the PDP would capture Kano Government House by all means.
That may have been the reason for the considerable interest expressed by some leading gubernatorial hopefuls in the party to brace up for the titanic battle.
Some of the leading contenders have started mobilizing their supporters to get prepared, with the minister of foreign affairs Alhaji Aminu Bashir Wali and Malam Ibrahim Shekarau on the front line.
First in the line of the major contenders within the PDP is Dr. Akilu Sani Indabawa. Indabawa, by orientation and pedigree is born and bred in the academia and made his foray into politics as an act of providence and human calculation.
His close romance with some notable kingpins in the corridors of power having served as a political adviser to President Jonathan may be a good advantage for him to clinch the PDP’s ticket.
Another leading contender on the platform of the PDP is Alhaji Salihu Sagir Takai. Takai, who had recently formally declared his intention to contest for the governorship of the state is a staunch protégé of Malam Ibrahim Shekarau a factor that is likely to play out during the 2015 gubernatorial elections.
Another prominent contender is Alhaji Mohammed Abacha. Abacha according to pundits, is likely to take a good advantage of his new-found romance with President Goodluck Jonathan and play his trump card without hiccups.
Pundits also believe that, it was on the prodding of president Goodluck Jonathan that charges of alleged financial impropriety leveled against Abacha by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) were dropped at the eleventh hour.
Abba Risqua Murtala Muhammad is widely considered by pundits as one candidate who joined the political fray with a Midas touch, given the retinue of his political godfathers who are good friends of his late father. It was the contention of pundits that Risqua may use the influence of his revered father to clinch the PDP’s gubernatorial ticket for Kano.
He came on board, as he has always told newsmen, with a mission to effect an “industrial revolution” in Kano. For his youthful exuberance and gravitas as a wunderkind political figure, Risqua said he did not consider the race for Kano Government House as a do or die affair; rather it was born out of his penchant to prove his mettle on the political landscape of Kano.
As someone whose father gallantly fought tooth and nail to keep Nigeria as one indivisible entity, Risqua according to pundits, is likely to be paid with the positive side of the coin as a posthumous reward to his late father.
Whichever way the pendulum swings, the issue of who would clinch the PDP’s ticket in Kano depends on the influence of one candidate whose closeness to those calling the shots in the nation’s corridors of power is unprecedented.
