Kano APC: Tricky options before Shekarau’s G-7

Since the Court of Appeal judgment a month ago that returned the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano State to the state governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, the G-7, a faction led by Senators Ibrahim Shekarau and Barau Jibrin, has been engulfed in a political quagmire, Daily Trust reports. The faction’s position became […]

Since the Court of Appeal judgment a month ago that returned the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano State to the state governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, the G-7, a faction led by Senators Ibrahim Shekarau and Barau Jibrin, has been engulfed in a political quagmire, Daily Trust reports.

The faction’s position became more complex following the release of a new timetable by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which provided among others for all political parties to conclude their primary elections on or before June 3. 

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The faction’s position is already complicated by the ruling party’s rescheduled convention for March 26.

With the faction still having one more legal option – the Supreme Court – it is feared that time constraint and the unpredictability of the judicial system and process may render the option almost non-existent.

While Daily Trust reliably gathered that a notice of appeal had already been entered at the apex court by the faction, the transmission of the records of proceedings at the appellate court, a critical aspect of the judicial process, was yet to be done as of Monday.

Eleven days to the party’s convention, political and legal experts observed that the chances of the apex court giving a hearing date and judgment before the convention are very slim, owing to the fact that the respondents (the Ganduje-led group) are expected to deploy all the legal ploys to prolong the hearing and determination of the appeal.

Another tricky option before the G-7 is believed to be whether or not to pitch their tent with another political party to wrest power from the APC in the state. 

With some of the members of the group, including Shekarau, earlier having stints with the main opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a return to the party by the group or some of its members has become the talk of the town. 

The national chairman of PDP, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, was reported to have recently met with Shekarau.

However, this option is not without its own intricacies. First, should a former governor of the state, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, the leader of the Kwankwasiyya movement decide to remain in PDP, how will the party resolve the problem that earlier pushed Shekarau out of the party – the sharing of the party structure between him and Kwankwaso?

This is also expected to affect the gubernatorial ambition of Senator Barau Jibrin.

But should Kwankwaso stay true to his expected defection to the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), the G-7 may find the PDP a perfect habitat to launch their 2023 political battle if they are able to bring aboard the faction of former minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Aminu Wali, which had been wrestling with Kwankwaso’s faction since the 2019 election. 

A new follower of the G-7, Muazu Magaji, who was a commissioner in the current administration, had last week announced his defection to PDP, a development believed to show the signs of things to come.

Should this option be taken by the G-7, it will present the possibility of the three bigwigs of Kano modern politics (Kwankwaso, Shekarau and Ganduje) ending up for the first time ever in three different political parties by the time primary elections of the parties are done with on June 3.

This option has also divided political analysts as to whether or not voters and residents of Kano State would be better off.

However, with the recent visitations of some bigwigs of Kwankwaso’s Kwankwasiyya movement to Shekarau, it has also been observed that another option before the G-7 might be for them and Kwankwaso to join forces in the NNPP; but the problem of who gets what and when will still be hanging in the air, especially with all the members of the G-7 believed to be nursing ambitions for the 2023 general elections.

House of Representatives members in the group, Sha’aban Sharada (Kano Municipal) – Tijjani Jobe (Dawakin Tofa/Tofa/Rimingado), Haruna Dederi (Karaye/Rogo) and Nasiru Auduwa (Gabasawa/Gezawa) – are believed to be expecting at the least automatic return tickets to the green chamber while Senator Barau Jibrin is said to consider 2023 as a make or mar year for his long-held gubernatorial ambition. 

The group’s leader, Shekarau will consider a hitch-free return to the Senate a consolation, if he cannot get a bigger position, it has been observed.

These personal ambitions of the group members, according to some observers, could also turn out as an albatross or even a keg of gunpowder that could blow up the group, with some already suggesting a crack in the group after the Court of Appeal judgment.

But a spokesman of Shekarau, Dr. Sule Ya’u Sule, insisted that contrary to the rumour making the rounds, the members of the G-7 remain united and focused on their collective goal.

“Since the commencement of this movement, there is no single crack between the members. They are together because there was never a decision that was taken that was never a collective decision and whoever approaches anyone of them, of which there were moves, they refer him back to the leader of the movement,” Sule said.

On the options before the group, Sule admitted that there are always several options but for now, the group remains focused on pursuing its case at the Supreme Court.

“We have strong hope that the Supreme Court will deliver judgment soonest,” he said, adding, however, that should the judgment not come before the convention of the party, the group will know what to do.

“But honestly, we have our plans if anything doesn’t go well with (plan) A, we will go to B and then to C if anything doesn’t go on well with B. But what we are on has not failed us yet. 

“You only think of alternative routes when the road you are on is not taking you to your desired destination, but at the moment, we are comfortable with the road we are moving on,” he said.

On the visits by some loyalists of the Kwankwasiyya movement to Shekarau in recent days, Sule said “they visited him on consultation as they visited other prominent politicians. They visited Sule Lamido (former Jigawa State governor), Bukola Saraki (former Senate president and presidential aspirant) and they also visited (Aminu) Tambuwal (governor of Sokoto State). 

“So, they said as concerned politicians from the Kwankwasiyya movement, they are consulting with some selected prominent politicians of which Malam (Shekarau) was part of those identified.”

He added that the Kwankwasiyya members only visited Shekarau “to solicit for his guidance as far as their political careers are concerned, it is not like they are coming to ask him to join their group.”

Political scientist suggests best option

But for Dr. Aminu Hayatu, a political analyst and lecturer in the Department of Political Science, Bayero University Kano (BUK), the best option before the G-7 is to remain in APC and get the national body to reconvene another reconciliation meeting.

“An available option for them is the PDP but the party is also battling with its own internal crisis in Kano. But the only thing left for the APC is the option to bring them (G-7) back to the table without necessarily allowing the court process to continue because if they don’t, these (G-7) are also big shots and once they leave the party, it will be faced with a serious problem of getting the required cooperation of other voters in the state to be able to make it in Kano. 

“Remember the slight or narrow escape they (APC) had in the 2019 election.

“The party needs to manage this fragile situation. This is the most fragile situation that Kano APC has found itself in since it was formed,” he said.

In the end, observers believed that should the G-7 make the wrong turn in choosing its option, the choice could turn out to be political suicide for many, if not all of them.