With the 2023 general elections in the country fast approaching and leading political gladiators bracing up for titanic war, the planned exit of Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, senator representing Kano Central from the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has stirred the hornet’s nest with tens of thousands of his followers still not knowing their ultimate fate.
His planned exist from the party came on the heels of his recent defection from the All Progressives Congres (APC) on the premise that he was grossly persecuted and marginalised in the party he believed he was a prominent stakeholder.
According to him, he had taken the eleventh decision hour to change his nest from the APC to NNPP, knowing that his relevance as an indispensable stakeholder in the political fray would be taken into cognisance ahead of the 2023 general elections and also affirmed that he was poised to play a spectacular role in leading the NNPP to greater height.
He said “my relationship with Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso remained cordial and ever strong. I have no axe to grind with him. Whatever happened in the past was never a manifestation of hatred and deep animosity between us. I considered him a brother and have no inkling of animosity against his person.
“Simple misunderstanding and differences in politics is normal in every democratic set up and we just have to sheath our swords and work together in the interest of the ANNPP. I took the decision to leave APC simply because I have been blatantly kept on the sidelines. My legion of followers, supporters and well wishers should bear with me that my action was not informed by primordial sentiment,” he had stressed.
With the current tide of events appearing not to be on the side of the Senator as posited by Senator Ibrahim Shekarau few days ago, he has also taken the decision to contact members of his much pronounced Shura group on the need for them to extensively analyse the unfolding scenario in the ANNPP and come up with a final decision on whether to remain in the ANNPP or not.
According to the senator, his own side has not gotten the fair share of the deal as far as the allocation of prominent slots to his people is concerned and that he is left with no alternative than to take a decision that would be in the best interest of his followers before the forthcoming general elections are conducted in the country.
Dropping the bombshell without his tens of thousands of his ardent followers not having a prior knowledge about it, Shekarau almost caught his followers off-guard knowing that his defection to NNPP has led to rest every speculation about his eventual fate.
His planned exit from the ANNPP has undoubtedly triggered a flurry of discordant tune within the Senator’s political camp with many expressing their utmost displeasure over what they described as an ill-timed and expensive stand.
According to a prominent member of the NNPP, Alhaji Shehu Zuwaciki, the decision taken by the senator came almost at a wrong time, as the bargaining chip would not in any way be in his favour in any political party he is willing to join.
He said” if one is thinking that the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) would be his last resort, the party might not necessarily give him the chance to maneuver when it comes to the issue of allocation of high profile slots. As I see it he is fighting a lost battle on almost every front. His sojourn in the NNPP would be the best for him in the face of the meteoric rise of the party at present”.
“He is only dribbling his supporters in a Maradonic twist on what they believed is his own way of doing things. The PDP has no certainty of making any headway in Kano, since it has been completely turned into shreds. He still has time to think aloud before finally exiting to another party at a very wrong time” he added.
Speaking in the same vein a staunch supporter of the Senator, Alhaji Lawan Gurungawa, with the recent development taking tens of thousands of his supporters by surprise, he is poised to lose a large chunk of his supporters as a result of his indecision at the time he is expected to stay put in the NNPP , a party considered to be gaining unprecedented acceptability in the eyes of voters in Kano State.
“Many of us are not going to support his move. We are really fed up with his gale of defections from one party to another. He has to have a firm and one formidable ideological base, a politician lacking firm ideological base is like a swimmer in a river without having a chart. We should begin to uphold our opinion and make it sacrosanct under whatever guise,” he remarked.
As things stand at present, the senator is yet to announce a party of his choice after exiting from the NNPP despite pundits’ speculation that he would eventually settle for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
