By Sani Galadima Suleiman
One of the problems of political influence peddlers is that they exaggerate the extent of their power. In a democracy, numbers count more than intimidating the people with your connection. Being an Abuja’ politician is different from having local grassroots support. Another problem of our self-styled power brokers is that they think they can impose their will on the people by foisting their protégés as candidates for elective offices. Any serious political party should do a thorough risk assessment of those aspiring to get nominations as candidates.
The Kano State PDP chapter is currently facing this challenge of finding the right candidate to contest the 2015 governorship election. A godfather’s candidate may not necessarily be the people’s choice. And the danger is that, once a godfather insists on having his way by foisting his protégé on the people, they might face resistance. And such resistance may lead to outcomes that won’t favour the party. The people are central to the democratic process, and any attempt by any godfather to disregard the will of the people is bound to seriously harm the interest of the PDP in Kano State come 2015.
The appointment of former governor Ibrahim Shekarau of Kano State as the Minister of Education is primarily perceived as a gesture to improve the political fortunes of the party in Kano State. In fact, the fate of the PDP may be determined how Shekarau plays his role fairly. He can only play his role fairly by allowing the people of Kano State have a say on who becomes the PDP’S gubernatorial candidate in 2015.
To all intent and purposes, however, Shekarau appears to be stubbornly determined to impose his protégé, Salihu Takai, as the party’s inevitable candidate. Deciding a candidate for PDP members and supporters in advance by Shekarau is not only undemocratic, but is also ridiculous and indefensible. How can any godfather throw away the will of the people through the window and expect the PDP go into the 2015 elections with confidence? Thousands of PDP members are grumbling about Shekarau’s determination to foist Salisu Takai as candidate.
Does Takai have the formidable grassroots support to help the PDP win the election? Does Shekarau want the PDP to fail by his seeming determination to impose his protégé as the party’s candidate? From all indications, any attempt by any PDP godfather to impose his protégé candidate will ruin the chances of the PDP. Democracy is about what the people want; it is not about what the godfathers want.
Godfathers cannot and should not replace the will of the people. George Washington, one of America’s founding fathers, said “no man is good enough to govern another without his consent”. It is, therefore, very obvious that imposition of candidates will produce deleterious consequences for the fortunes of any political party that takes the will of the people for granted.
Any political party that doesn’t heed the lessons of history is bound to commit fatal blunders. When the former Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) made the same arrogant errors of imposing candidates and disregarding the will of the people, it eventually paid dearly for those disastrous mistakes. The CPC lost the governorship and House of Assembly election in Kano State in 2011.
That event should serve as a useful lesson for the PDP leaders in Kano State. Once you take the will of the people for granted, you are bound to get resistance. A close examination of the realities of Kano politics will show that Mohammed Abacha is the most formidable grassroots politician the PDP can boast of. He took the former CPC by storm when he swept its gubernatorial primaries. He defeated the party’s officially anointed aspirant Colonel Lawal Ja’afaru Isa. Mohammed won 144,000 votes, putting Isa a distant second with 78,000 votes. The outcome of the primaries was a popular rebuff for the CPC leaders.
From the experience of the CPC, the Kano State PDP may face the same problem if it attempts to impose candidates on the people. Former Governor Ibrahim Shekarau was a witness to those events as a then ANPP member. The Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Spiritual Leader, said “when you lose, don’t lose the lesson.” Ibrahim Shekarau should put the higher interest of the PDP before his personal ego.
If truth be told, does the Kano State PDP chapter have any political aspirant with formidable following like Mohammed Abacha? I don’t know such a politician. Salisu Takai cannot politically hold the candle to Mohammed Abacha if primaries are held a hundred times. This is the reality of Kano politics today, the PDP can ignore this reality at its own peril. Mohammed Abacha is the safest bet for the PDP, and any attempt by anybody to introduce the imposition of candidates may create problems for the party beyond imagination. A word is enough for the wise.
Suleiman wrote from 56 Cairo Crescent, Wusell, Abuja. Email: [email protected]
