Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso is not one to shy away from baring his mind. His silence in recent times has been a source of discomfort for members of the All Progressives Congress (APC). His name has been springing up whenever and wherever analysts discuss possible defectors from the ruling APC. Silence could mean many things. Some believe it is the best answer for a chaotic situation.
He broke his silence last week by declaring his intention to run for office of the president come 2019. In this report, YUSUF MOHAMMED, takes a look at his antecedents and what his ambition portends for the APC and President Muhammadu Buhari.
Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso is the only prominent member of the APC to flag off his 2019 presidential bid. The former Governor of Kano who is currently a Senator representing Kano Central Senatorial District flagged off his presidential bid last week, in Anambra State.
Before his intention became public knowledge, sources close to him revealed to The Next Edition that he was observing the political situation and making wide consultations.
One of the reasons his relationship with his state governor, Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano become frosty is believed to be connected with the former governor’s presidential ambition.
Ganduje is doing all within his powers to protect the political interest of President Muhammadu Buhari in Kano, according to political observers.
However, analysts see that as a move, which may be detrimental to Ganduje’s re-election bid. Ganduje’s actions may backfire as Kwankwaso is very popular in Kano.
Kwankwaso is one of the thoroughbred politician in Nigeria. He has experience in the civil service and politics. He was the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives in 1992 and delegate to the Constitutional Conference in 1994. The former Minister of Defence got to power in 2011 with a strong political ideology anchored on the Kwankwasiyya Movement, which is represented by the red cap.
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Kwankwaso has strong support among the APC governors in the north and in Kano State in particular. The Kwankwasiyya Ambassadors of Nigeria, a group backing his presidential aspiration, though based in Kano State, is a strong political force trying to spread the message of his performance beyond the state. It was gathered that they have stormed the southern states to drum support for his candidature.
A political analyst from Kano, Mr. Yunusa Bala Tafida, told The Next Edition that, “Ganduje rode on Kwankwaso’s popularity in Kano to become governor. Without the support of Kwankwaso, there was no way he would have been governor of Kano State.”
Ganduje was his deputy for two terms. He was his deputy in 2003 to 2007 and also his deputy in 2011 to 2015.
It would be remembered that President Buhari got his highest vote from Kano in 2015. That was largely due to the efforts of the Kwankwasiyya movement.
Like former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, Kwankwaso was also kept at arm’s length by the President. Both politicians were Buhari’s main opposition in the APC presidential primaries in 2014 when Buhari emerged as candidate. To everyone’s surprise, Kwankwaso came second while Atiku who was touted as one of the favourites after Buhari was third. The implication is that he has a good rapport with many of the APC governors, especially in northern Nigeria.
Although President Buhari has not declared to run again in 2019, speculations are rife with endorsements from all angles. Also, like Atiku, many thought that he would dump the APC to realize his ambition elsewhere because he was not being carried along in the scheme of the APC.
Governor Nasir El-rufai of Kaduna State gave credence to what many perceived as the sidelining of some APC bigwigs including Kwankwaso in his letter to Buhari in 2016.
He wrote: “Mr. President, Sir your relationship with the national leadership of the party, both the formal (NWC) and informal (Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso), and former Governors of ANPP, PDP (that joined us) and ACN, is perceived by most observers to be at best frosty. Many of them are aggrieved due to what they consider total absence of consultations with them on your part and those you have assigned such duties.”
Looking at the bigger picture, one of Kwankwaso’s major problems is that he does not seem to have political structures beyond Kano State that can support an effective presidential campaign. Again, he had battles with non-indigenes in Kano, especially Igbo traders who accused him of destroying their businesses in the guise of implementing Sharia.
Kwankwaso’s Sharia code practiced in Kano may work against his presidential bid and non-Muslims who were victims of the law may use it against him.
The Igbo medicine dealers in Sabon-Gari market were having a rough deal in the hands of the state government task force on fake drugs through which drugs worth billions of naira belonging to Igbo traders in the state were destroyed. He has no national support-base and he is perceived as a sectional leader.
However, his political influence in northern Nigeria cannot be taken for granted or shoved aside. He is cool, calm and collected. Whatever he does has been carefully planned. He was one of the five governors that defected from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP to the APC in 2014. That move destabilized the PDP. If he could play that role in 2015, it means he could do the same in 2019 (destabilize the APC) considering his popularity in the North.