Kwankwaso, Jang and the North

It is worthy to note that this is the first time the presidency is accused of meddling in the affairs of the governors’ forum. Nigerian governors are seen as very powerful in determining the presidential candidate of the PDP.In the last NGF election, Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, who stood for reelection, defeated his Plateau […]

It is worthy to note that this is the first time the presidency is accused of meddling in the affairs of the governors’ forum. Nigerian governors are seen as very powerful in determining the presidential candidate of the PDP.
In the last NGF election, Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, who stood for reelection, defeated his Plateau State counterpart Jonah Jang, who was said to be the consensus candidate of the North and backed by the presidency.
However, despite his defeat, Jang has formed his own faction. As fallout from the NGF election, Bauchi State Governor Isa Yuguda has since opted out of the Northern State Governors’ Forum accusing the members of insincerity. Yuguda was followed by Gabriel Suswan of Benue State.
Meanwhile, Jang is holding meetings being attended by governors loyal to his faction. But recently the Kano State Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso criticized Yuguda and Suswan for quitting the Northern States Governors Forum.
Kwankwaso told the story of how he nominated Jang for the NGF election which he lost to Amaechi. In an interview with journalists in Abuja, Kwankwaso said “I gave them Jang and I asked the governor of Benue State to support me. I realised they were very desperate, and that even after the election they would not accept the victory of Amaechi. We gave them who we feel should lead the minority group. When we left the place, they had their meeting and accepted him.”
Jang has berated Kwankwaso for allegedly voting Amaechi despite nominating the Plateau State governor for the NGF chairmanship. Speaking through Yiljap Abraham, his Commissioner for Information and Communication, Jang said he never begged any governor to nominate him and said the comments attributed to Kwankwaso were unfair to him. Abraham went further to accuse Kwankwaso of being an enemy of the North.
One will therefore want to ask the question: between Kwankwaso and Jang, who is the enemy of the North?
While leaving the Northerners to answer the above question based on what they know of the two personalities, I will want to advise Jang to employ powerful research experts and ask them to sample the opinion of the average Northerners who their enemy is between himself and Kwankwaso. There is no need wasting time granting newspaper interviews or buying airtime on radio and television to know who the true enemy of the North is.
Abbas Yushau Yusuf, Nassarawa Local Government, Kano. [email protected]