By Sunday Isuwa
New twists have emerged on why a former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, is yet to join the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2023 general elections.
Competent sources within the party told LEADERSHIP Weekend that Kwankwaso had sought a soft landing and given conditions for joining the party.
It was gathered that since the leaders of the APC from the North had been mulling a southern president in 2023, Kwankwaso’s conditions were that he would only return to the APC if agreed that he would be made a presidential running mate in the 2023 general elections.
Also, Kwankwaso is asking the party not to tamper with his existing structures especially the Kwankwasiyya Movement that exists all over Nigeria.
The source said Kwankwaso demanded that the structure of the party in Kano State should go to him rather than his home state governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, who was his deputy.
Kwankwaso has been in a political war with Ganduje since their tenure as governor and deputy expired in 2015.
Kwankwaso was among some northern governors who left the convention ground of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2014 to form the nPDP that later joined the All Progressives Congress (APC) that defeated the then ruling party in the 2015 presidential election.
Pundits say Kwankwaso’s former friend, deputy and present governor of Kano State, Ganduje will never cage in to surrendering his power as the leader of the APC in the state.
Another source said that while Kwankwaso was making such a demand, the party disagreed and also gave him certain leeway.
“But people who were negotiating his return on behalf of the party told Kwankwaso that he is free to return to the party and fight for any office he wants but that his demands cannot be part of an agreement.
“He (Kwankwaso) was told that giving him the ticket as a presidential running mate and controlling the structure of the APC is something he can’t be assured of but can pursue his ambitions.
“Kwankwaso was given a green light to return to the APC without any promise of a presidential running mate ticket neither will he be made the leader of the APC in Kano.
“He was told that the Kwankwasiyya Movement should be disbanded,” the source said.
Another member of the APC in the North West said if Kwankwaso returned to the party with his Kwankwasiyya Movement unchecked, it might affect the running of the party.
“The Kwankwasiyya Movement has a large followership. There will beconflicting views and interests if the Kwankwasiyya Movement is allowed in the APC. If Kwankwaso returns with his Kwankwasiyya Movement, there would be a series of clashes,” he said.
Kwankwaso had in June denied plans to dump the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Kwankwaso’s aide, Saifullahi Hassan, had said that reports making the rounds that Kwankwaso planned to return to the APC were false.
He also said their leader was not planning to float a new political party to challenge PDP and APC for presidency in 2023.
But during a meeting of APC stakeholders in Kano on Thursday, the state commissioner for rural development, Musa Iliyasu Kwankwaso, said Kwankwaso would be welcomed back to the APC.
Musa, a relation to Kwankwaso, said they were still expecting the former governor in the APC but could not disclose when he would join the party.
“If he is ready to submit to the leadership of Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, he is welcome. Ganduje is the leader of the APC in Kano,” Musa was quoted as saying.
Credit: Leadership.
