The ride on Buhari’s back syndrome in Katsina

Following these reports, there were reactions from those who are sympathetic to the defectors or better still, their agents condemning these publications. According to them, such reports are the handiwork of people who are paid “to sow the seed of discord between the leadership of the CPC, in particular, the party’s presidential flagbearer, Buhari and […]

Following these reports, there were reactions from those who are sympathetic to the defectors or better still, their agents condemning these publications. According to them, such reports are the handiwork of people who are paid “to sow the seed of discord between the leadership of the CPC, in particular, the party’s presidential flagbearer, Buhari and the new entrants so as to discourage anyone among them from legitimately aspiring for any elective office on the party’s platform”.

In one of such write-ups by one Bature Sani, published in the October 3rd, 2010 edition of Sunday Trust, the writer averred, “Surely, leaving one political party on principle to join another one cannot be a political sin, because that is exactly what the founder of the CPC did when Buhari and his multitude of associates and supporters left the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) to found the CPC. The defectors similarly left the PDP because they have realised that the party has irredeemably derailed from the ideals of its founding fathers, and having done the best they could do to reverse the rot without success, they concluded that there was no more reason for them to remain in its fold any longer.”

It is illogical to draw comparisons between the exit from the ANPP of the likes of Buhari, Sule Hamma, Abubakar Mamman Danmusa, Engineer Buba Galadima and the defectors from the PDP in the persons of Hon. Aminu Masari, Senator Abdul Yandoma, Hon. Sadiq Yar’adua and the rest of them who decamped from the PDP to the CPC in Katsina State. From all indications, Buhari and his people did not leave ANPP because they would not get the ticket or opportunities to run elections.  In fact, Buhari himself stated recently that if he had still remained in the ANPP, he would still have secured the nod of the party to fly its flag for next year’s presidential election.

There are yet aspirants who have defected without seeking to exploit Buhari’s popularity for selfish gains. Those in this group, we know them.

No rational individual can be deceived because this cannot be said of the PDP defectors in Katsina State. For instance, there was one of them who aspired to be the state coordinator of the Goodluck Support Group. He could not get it. If he had got it, he would have still remained in the PDP. This politician parted ways with the PDP leadership at the point he realised that he could not get what he wanted.

The same can be said of one who won the House of Representatives election on the platform of the PDP in 1999.  However, between 1999 and 2003 that he served in the House, he became so arrogant to the extent that he became inaccessible to the people of his constituency. In 2003 elections when he sought the office again on the platform of the PDP, he was overwhelming voted against by the electorate in his constituency.

What the party needs from him is his commitment and dedication to the party.  The truth is that in any political setting, those who place their political aspirations far above the political party ideology cannot be trusted. They are like wolves in sheep clothing that will one day manifest their real identity.

Aliyu Musa writes from Abuja Crescent, Lawrence Onoja Road, Kofar Kaura Layout, Katsina