Pressure on Kwankwaso to withdraw for Buhari

Malam Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso is under pressure to step down for General Muhammadu Buhari in the race for the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC), TheCable understands.

In recent times, supporters of the former head of state have been campaigning for his adoption as the consensus candidate of the party for the February 14, 2015 presidential election.

However, with the party’s reluctance to follow the example of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which has already adopted President Goodluck Jonathan as its sole candidate, Buhari’s supporters are now pushing for other candidates to voluntarily withdraw for him.

Loyalists of Buhari have been holding meetings with Kwankwaso to persuade him to step aside and allow the push for a northern consensus candidate to face Jonathan.

Also, Kwankwaso, who will leave office as governor of Kano state in 2015, is seen as someone who could provide valuable logistical help to Buhari in the presidential primary if it becomes a direct contest between Buhari and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.

Buhari is very popular in Kano, where he won in 2003, 2007 and 2011, but the primary is an indirect election and Kwankwaso is in control most of the Kano delegates.

“Basically, we know that Kwankwaso is not really interested in being president. He just wants to be relevant at the federal level after leaving office as governor, and this is one assurance he can get if Buhari wins,” an associate of Buhari told TheCable.

A member of Kwankwaso’s cabinet confirmed that there is pressure on the governor to step down but said it is “premature” to reach conclusions now.

According to him, supporters of Buhari in Kano are not making it easy for Kwankwaso and this has to be sorted out first.

There is a crisis in the Kano chapter of APC, with those who defected from PDP forming one camp and are pitched against the legacy parties that formed APC.

The merger of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) produced APC, but the new entity had settled down when Kwankwaso defected from PDP and took over APC in the state, thereby sparking off internal controversy.

Former governor, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, left APC following the crisis and is now in the PDP and is currently minister of education.

But this has not resolved the internal dispute.

While those from the legacy parties are supporting Buhari, the PDP defectors, who belong to the Kwankwasiyya movement, are backing Kwankwaso.

Former military governor Jaafaru Isa, Bello Isa Bayero, who both came from CPC, as well as Ibrahim Ali Amin (“Little”), Alhaji Magaji Abdullahi, who was deputy governor to Shekarau, are pushing for the candidacy of Buhari.

Former presidential candidate in the third republic, Alhaji Bashir Tofa, and former minister of labour, Alhaji Musa Gwadabe, are with Kwankwaso.

The governor has also the backing of other key APC members such as Haruna Dan Zago, Yusuf Chiroma Kutama, former deputy governor Abdullahi Tijjani Gwarzo, and former MD of Nigerian Ports Authority, Aminu Dabo.