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.
DAILY POST recalls that earlier this week, Garo claimed that the majority leader assaulted him after he disrupted a 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.
In his timetable for campaign activities, he is going to have two rallies in Kano State, one in January and another before the grand finale in Lagos State.
During a press briefing on Thursday at the National Assembly, Doguwa said despite the side talks, Rabiu Kwankwaso remains powerful in the State, adding that APC will lose the State if the crisis is allowed to linger.
“Before becoming the running mate, he (Garo) was the commissioner for local government and chieftaincy affairs. I am sure you journalists know what we call those ministries in the State. We call them the ministry of petroleum resources. This is someone that got the opportunity to serve in a ministry that has a stupendous amount of money.
“His last wife now is the daughter of Atiku Abubakar. When he was not given the ticket, I visited him, and he told me that since you have messed me up, I will rather become an inlaw to the president than a deputy governor who will make me just like a messenger. He has no interest to work for the APC, he is working to become an in-law to the next president,” he said.
Doguwa in the press briefing also praised Kwankwaso, stating that he would be ready to reconcile with the former governor of the State if he is willing to reach out to him.
He explained that his grievance with Kwankwaso is a personal one, not political. He stated that a single phone call from the ex-governor will resolve the crisis between the duo.
Doguwa stressed that if the leadership of the party is not ready to intervene, APC should forget Kano.
For Tinubu, the bickering between Messrs Doguwa and Garo could cost the party the 5,927,565 votes in the State.