Is Kwankwaso, Shekarau’s Political Feud Bickering Of Egocentric? -By Fou’ad Ibrahim

One of the greatest challenges of the Nigeria since its return to democracy more than two decade now is that the country’s political space is filled with a retrogressive culture as most political parties are not built on people-oriented ideologies or principles.

The parties are mare platforms stuck with the sole purpose of capturing and retaining power, but not the art of building and sustaining a virile nation. Worst of all, politicians are in the country lack a definite direction, genuineness of purpose as most of them only follow the path where power lies without concern for the society. Nevertheless it has become a norm in the country for a politician to jump from one party to another without much genuine explanations to their supporters because Nigerian politics thrives on the culture of master to slave.

Recently Kano polity heated up due to shekarau and Kwankwaso’s bickering which has left Shekarau camp in political limbo. Other view Kwankwaso and Shekarau political honeymoon as a marriage of convenience to fight common political foes. This desire made them to overlook their differences just to pull down Governor Ganduje and the APC gubernatorial candidate in the state. Both of them at different times had a sour relationship with serving governor.

When Senator Kwankwaso made his mind to defect to PDP, he told the BBC Hausa in an interview that he knew it was just a matter of time that there would be an implosion in the ruling party in Kano State due to series of Internal wrangling. He added that the internal crisis in the ruling party was exacerbated by a deep sense of selfishness; winner takes all attitude and impatience.

He argued that the development had further gave credence to what he had in mind. When the wrangling reaches a tipping point, that reconciliation is impossible between RMK and Ganduje, he defected back to the PDP and later to the NNPP to pursue his presidential ambition because his chance in the PDP was very thin.

Although Governor Ganduje accorded the former governor with all sense of respect, the governor gave Shekarau a nomination form to contest for a senatorial seat, The governor followed him to APC national secretariat to submitted the form to him. Governor Ganduje followed him to campaign and directed 15 LGAs of Kano Central District to pay allegiance to him at his residence.

Sadly Shekarau took the privileges for granted and led G-7 APC faction to revolt against the Abdullahi Abbas, who emerged as the ruling party chairman. Crisis erupted in the G-7 group over allegations that the leader of the faction secretly reconciled with Governor Abdullahi Ganduje in an effort to re-secure his senatorial seat in 2023.

The rest remains history as popular saying had it that ‘a leopard doesn’t change its spot’. Malam left the ruling party claiming, the governor had sidelined him in the running of the party’s affairs in the state. Even at the time Kwankwaso and Shekarau forged a new front to work together people believed that the alliance is a failed political journey from day one.

They share same political career similarities, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau served straight eight years as governor; but in a very amusing handover he handed over power to Kwankwaso to go for his second term. Kwankwaso had only served four years in office when relatively unknown politician defeated him as a sitting governor. Both serve as ministers and Senators representing Kano central Senatorial district, Both are presidential aspirants former under APC and later in the platform of defunct ANPP.

Both have the political history of jumping from one party to another in as much as they personal political interest would not be met Shekarau and Kwankwaso’s are APC & PDP alumnus. In 2018, Kwankwaso’s return to PDP which pushed Shekarau back to APC. With his exit stemming from the internal rift in the Kano chapter of the party. One faction was loyal to him while another was under the control of Kwankwaso, who was also in PDP at the time, Shekarau blamed the national leadership of the party for failing to resolve the crisis following the controversial dissolution of the state executive committee.

In 29th March, 2022, Kwankwaso resigned his membership of the PDP and he said he was leaving the party because of some serious and irreconcilable differences. He join the NNPP at the end of March by June he has been emerged as the presidential candidate of the New Nigerian Peoples Party(NNPP). Just of sudden in May, 2022, Senator Ibrahim Shekarau and associate joint NNPP from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Reasons behind their defection, APC’s inability to settle the crisis between his faction and Ganduje’s faction led to his exit from the party.

As it was anticipated by political watchers this necessity political honeymoon between them would short lived. Shekarau and his associates had demanded that the NNPP implemented the terms of agreement it reached with them before their defection, among which was nomination tickets for a number of his associates.

Shekarau accused Kwankwaso of betraying the agreement they had before his defection. “I will never be a party to injustice. My integrity is utmost and not any political position that will make me compromise it and that of my people. Nobody will use position or money against my integrity,” he had said.

But Kwankwaso, in an interview with BBC Hausa, said most of the people brought by Shekarau’s side to get tickets for elective positions joined the NNPP at a time INEC would not accept their candidacies, adding that there is no agreement that was not fulfilled other than that of contestants. “We have tried our best to honour the agreement, but time didn’t permit us,” he said.

Therefore, they political honeymoon is on verge of collapse as serving senator and political associate about to ditch the party to likely PDP. Already, political analyst believed that due to superiority complex between them definitely they necessity agreement would not unite them because both wanted to lead not to follow. Now marriage of convenience to pull down Governor Ganduje and the ruling party gubernatorial candidate at all cost may likely fail as the former tried it in 2019 elections by anointed his political godson. Madugu as his supporters called him made political miscalculation by reliant much on the youths that adopted red cap as the symbol of Kwankwasiyya, but the youths only ended up at the football field or Sport viewing centre. Against all the odds the governor was re-elected for his second term in office.

The only difference between them political ideology to pursue they political survival, while the latter does not have such political ideology but Shura Council, the so-called highest decision-making body of Shekarau’s political structure. The former
formed kwankwasiyya movement as his own personal and political ideologies with ultimate right to decide for his associates and blind supporters. Both of them follow the path where political power lies in as much as they will have political relevant reckoning to the needs of the state.

Ibrahim write in from Umar Babura Road Bompai Kano