Sen Rabiu Kwankwaso, former Kano State Governor and Vice-Presidential Candidate of Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2027 election, says former Governors Ibrahim Shekarau, Abdullahi Ganduje and the incumbent Gov. Abba Yusuf are politically finished in the state.
Kwankwaso stated this while reflecting on the political fortunes of hitherto members of his political family who had now fallen out with him
While featuring on the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Personality Interview Series on Sunday in Abuja, he described as unsustainable any political success built through “treachery”
Kwankwaso further said that his experience over the past two and a half decades had shown that those who betrayed their political allies usually go into political oblivion
“You cannot succeed with treachery I have not seen one. Now we have taken about two and a half decades.
“If I ask you, I’m sure you don’t know; he is going into oblivion politically He is nowhere,” Kwankwaso said referring to one of his erstwhile political associates.
He specifically cited Ganduje, who served as his deputy for eight years before succeeding him as governor in 2015 and what he called his dwindling political fortune now
According to him, Ganduje’s political career would have been better had he maintained the political structure they both built together, describing the former governor’s current situation as a consequence of his decision to part ways with him
“If you can even see the issue of Ganduje, who we came together and supported, and became governor free of charge The day when he started fighting was the beginning of his problem. If I may ask: where is he now? It is difficult to see him,” he said.
Kwankwaso said Ganduje could have commanded greater respect in Kano and beyond had he remained committed to the political structure, adding that the former governor now had significant political challenges
He also criticised Governor Abba Yusuf for allegedly abandoning those who worked for his emergence as governor
Kwankwaso said the choice of Yusuf as his preferred candidate was based partly on the need to avoid a repeat of what he described as Ganduje’s actions
“Abba Yusuf: we went down, right down, to make sure that we picked the right person who would not go and repeat what Ganduje had done
“Members of my political group worked day and night to field Yusuf in the 2019 governorship election, which Yusuf won before the result was overturned through litigation,” he stated
He said the same political structure returned in 2023 and successfully secured Yusuf’s election as governor in spite of attempts to deploy similar tactics against the party
Kwankwaso, however, said Yusuf had since distanced himself from the political camp that brought him to power
“He left us, but he is not with Ganduje now He is in-between because I don’t think he is happy for anybody to call him Dan Gandujiyya,” he said.
He said Yusuf’s decision to allow himself to be publicly identified with Ganduje had also created political difficulties for him
Kwankwaso further alleged that Yusuf was now attempting to supplant him as the dominant political figure in Kano, despite his continued influence in the state
“People have no patience and that is why they are making those mistakes It is just a matter of patience,” he said.
The former governor said the struggle for political succession and control was not peculiar to Kano, describing it as a recurring feature of Nigerian politics
He recalled a conversation with President Bola Tinubu in which the president asked him to go and reconcile some political differences with Ganduje
Kwankwaso said he responded by drawing the attention to the fate of several politicians who had once been close political associates of the president but were no longer prominent in his political circle
He cited a former Lagos State Deputy Governor, Sen Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele and former Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode as examples.
“I told him that when I come here, I don’t see Bucknor When I come here, I don’t see Ambode. I started counting the people,” he said.
Kwankwaso, who said that his experience had shown the transient nature of political relationships, added that political colleagues could become distant in spite of having worked closely together before
Kwankwaso, however, singled out former Osun Governor, Chief Bisi Akande, as one of the few political associates he still regarded as a friend
He said political relationships often resembled those formed in school, where former classmates could maintain bonds in spite of the differences in their political careers
“It’s not very peculiar to Kano, but I think the Kano experience is special out of the general lots,” Kwankwaso said(NAN)