Presidential race 2019: Ganduje inflicts Fulani poison on Kwankwaso

• Takes Kano hostage for Buhari

Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano State, has been engaged in political warfare with his principal and former Governor of the State, Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, since succeeding him in 2015 in manners stakeholders in the state consider  an infliction of Fulani poison on the former governor.

Several stakeholders in Kano polity express perturbation that Ganduje may have been consumed by instincts of ethnic politics, being Fulani, to align with President Buhari, also a Fulani, and mobilise the state structures to antagonize Kwankwaso, an Hausa leader, after years of cordial political dealings and tutelage. They decried the resolve of the governor to draw battle line with their former governor in what they considered a desperation to preserve the state for the support of President Buhari in 2019.  They had lamented that the state is being held hostage for the president for 2019.

Ganduje in March prohibited Senator Kwankwaso from visiting Kano State to liaise with his army of supporters in the state prelude to the local government election.  Kwankwaso had insisted on the visit which precipitated tension over perceived threats of violent clash between Ganduje’s supporters and the Senator’s supporters, leading to apprehension of possible bloodshed in the state. Several stakeholders and elder statesmen in Kano State, made references to past experiences when similar political crisis degenerated into monumental violent clashes between supporters of political leaders leading to many deaths  and destruction of property; calling for caution. Interventions of some of the elder statesmen in Kano State and others from Abuja prevailed on Kwankwaso to cancel the visit to avert blood shed.

Governor Ganduje has indicated over time  that as long as President Buhari is contesting the 2015 presidential election for his second term, Kwankwaso should give up his presidential ambition. The governor has sustained his unreserved support for Buhari; altering the State party structures to clean up Kwankwaso’s loyalists, extending same to the State Government.

National Daily recalls that Kwankwaso, as Governor of Kano State, delivered the highest bloc votes from the state that facilitated APC and Buhari’s victory in the 2015 presidential election to defeat the PDP and former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Intensifying the political intransigence against Kwanwkaso,  Governor Ganduje on Sunday, declared total war, drawing battle line, with his political principal and predecessor, former Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, in the build up to 2019 presidential election.

Governor Ganduje has clearly shifted his loyalty to President  Buhari with corresponding aversion to the political interest of his former principal who has continued to show interest in the 2019 presidential race.

Kwankwaso had at the weekend declared that he would defeat President Buhari if given the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential ticket in 2019.

Governor Ganduje, in a statement by the Commissioner for Information, Malam Muhammad Garba, launched another salvo,declaring that Kwankwaso is a confused political fugitive seeking opportunities without party platform, and struggling to revive his political relevance.

According to the  Governor, “Senator Kwankwaso’s latest utterances have confirmed the fact that he is now a confused politician who is grabbing every opportunity to relaunch himself back into relevance.”

Ganduje in the statement declared, inter alia: “Kwankwaso is “a political fugitive who does not have the platform, the intellectual capability and mental ability to manage the affairs of Nigeria.

“For over three years, he has been sleeping in the Senate without sponsoring even a bill that will positively impact on the lives of Nigerians. This is a clear indication that he has nothing to offer. He is just being boastful. For over three years, Kwankwaso has been in the Senate, he has not visited Kano Central, his senatorial district. He has not executed any tangible constituency project for his people.

“Kwankwaso’s dream to get the PDP presidential ticket remains a tall one that can never see the light of the day because those he are going to meet there are familiar with his antics. They have not forgotten in a hurry the role he played in destroying the same PDP.

“I am surprised that Kwankawso is now talking about people like Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, a man he persecuted and betrayed in many occasions. I am surprised he is talking about the PDP, a party he destroyed and betrayed many of the chieftains who are still there today to pay him back with his own coin.

“Those who know him will understand that he is overrating himself and cannot be seen as a major contender in the 2019 presidential election. He is a usurper who wants power by all means. Here in Kano, the support for President Buhari and the APC is non-negotiable.”

It will be recalled that Kwankwaso in 1999, chose Ganduje as his running mate in the governorship election in Kano State, which they won. When he was appointed Minister of Defence by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, after  he lost in 2003 to Ibrahim Shekarau of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Kwankwaso appointed Ganduje his Special Adviser, carrying him along in his federal appointment. Again, winning the 2011 governorship election, Kwankwaso  made Ganduje deputy governor; who thereafter, he anointed to succeed him in 2015 as Kano State Governor.

The caustic attacks and threats of annihilating his political dynasty in Kano continues to be bizarre to the people of Kano State, who National Daily gathered are beginning to review their relationships with the ruling party in Kano in solidarity with their former governor, Kwankwaso.