2023: Tinubu and the APC face a new crisis in Kano

Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano State is facing a new crisis that threatens the party’s presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu.

This time, there is a sharp disagreement between some House of Representatives members, led by Majority Leader Ado Doguwa, and the party’s Deputy Gubernatorial candidate, Muritala Garo.

According to Track News, Garo claimed earlier this week that he was assaulted by the majority leader, who he claimed disrupted an ongoing meeting of some stakeholders in the State.

Doguwa, on the other hand, had refuted the claim, claiming that Garo is leading the capture of the State apparatus while excluding members of the National Assembly.

According to sources close to the situation, the deputy governorship candidate, who comes from a prominent Garo family, was the commissioner for local government and chieftaincy affairs, a position that allowed him to amass significant power in the State. He is also said to be married to Atiku Abubakar’s daughter.

Garo expressed interest in running for governor, but Governor Umar Ganduje chose Nasiru Gawuna instead. To entice the young Garo, the position of running mate was offered to him.

Doguwa, on the other hand, has been a member of the House of Representatives since 2003 and is one of the lawmakers expected to express interest in becoming speaker of the 10th Assembly if elected.

This latest squabble could signal a major problem within the party, given that Doguwa won the 2019 elections after a rerun, and he is fighting to return to the House.

During the primaries, the Kano APC nearly collapsed due to an internal crisis, which resulted in several politicians defecting to the NNPP. To stem the tide, Ganduje suspended his senatorial ambitions by allowing two state senators to run in the primaries.

However, the state’s crisis appears to have resurfaced, and both Atiku and Rabiu Kwankwaso are waiting to reap the benefits of the fallout.

Kano and the race in 2023

Kano State was the most populous voting state for many years, and its votes determined the outcome of several presidential elections. Buhari won Kano State with 1,464,768 (78.9 percent) of the total votes cast in 2019, defeating Atiku, who received 391,593 votes.

With Buhari out of the picture, Kwankwaso and his NNPP are among the state’s favorites, along with Mr. Atiku of the PDP.

Tinubu has prioritized the State ahead of the elections for months. Apart from Lagos and Abuja, Tinubu has spent the most time in Kano since announcing his presidential bid.

According to his campaign schedule, he will hold two rallies in Kano State, one in January and another before the grand finale in Lagos State.

During a press conference at the National Assembly on Thursday, Doguwa stated that despite the side talks, Rabiu Kwankwaso remains powerful in the state, and that the APC will lose the state if the crisis is allowed to continue.

“He (Garo) was the commissioner for local government and chieftaincy affairs before becoming the running mate.” I’m sure you journalists are familiar with the term “state ministries.” They are known as the Ministry of Petroleum Resources. This is someone who was given the opportunity to serve in a ministry with a large sum of money.

“His most recent wife is now Atiku Abubakar’s daughter.” When he was denied the ticket, I went to see him, and he told me that since you had screwed me up, he would rather be an inlaw to the president than a deputy governor who would treat him like a messenger. He has no desire to work for the APC; instead, he aspires to be the next president’s in-law,” he stated.

In the press conference, Doguwa praised Kwankwaso, saying he is willing to reconcile with the former governor of the state if he is willing to reach out to him.

He clarified that his beef with Kwankwaso is personal, not political. He claimed that a single phone call from the former governor would end the crisis between the two.

Doguwa emphasized that if the party’s leadership is unwilling to intervene, the APC should abandon Kano.

For Tinubu, the squabble between Messrs Doguwa and Garo could cost the party the State’s 5,927,565 votes.