By David Kabiyesi
More facts are beginning to emerge about why President Bola Tinubu opted to give up his earlier alliance with New Nigeria Peoples Party(NNPP) Presidential candidate, Aminu Kwankwaso.
It was highly rumored that the President was toying with the idea of offering Kwankwaso one of the ministerial portfolios to pave way for his second term bid which many claimed would grant All Progressive Congress (APC) the much-needed access to Kano votes.
But iwitnesslive.com gathered that the president jettisoned the idea of appointing Kwankwaso into his cabinet because he believed there is no sense in empowering the opposition, who would eventually use the resources to fight back. Besides, it was gathered that the president was equally discouraged by the demolition of public property constructed by the Ganduje administration by the new NNPP government in Kano.
Words was rife in Abuja among APC stalwarts that President Tinubu plans to offer Kwankwasso an appointment were kicked against by Party chairman, Abdulahi Ganduje who stated in clear terms that the political rapprochement between Kwankwaso and Tinubu did not go down well with him; and he didn’t hide his disapproval of the moves
Ganduje insisted that Tinubu’s invitation to Kwankwaso alone has rendered him irrelevant as leader of APC in Kano, adding that the president should have extended a similar invitation to him as well, “even if it will be a symbolic appearance”.
Ganduje said: “What could I have told him? Now he (Tinubu) is seeing Kwankwaso as an alternative to us? No problem. Is it because we are not in government, even when we lost the election because of him (Tinubu)? Even if he would see Kwankwaso, he ought to have called us too. Or don’t you understand, even if it is symbolically.”
Another APC stalwart in Kano, Abdulmajid Danbilki Kwamanda, warned that Kwankwaso’s arrival would trigger an internal crisis in APC, adding that such moves would be considered a betrayal of the trust and commitment of APC supporters in Kano.
“We in the North-West Zone do not welcome Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso into APC. We do not accept the idea of Bola Tinubu giving him any appointment even as low as a messenger in our party. Should Tinubu ignore our outcry and appoint Kwankwaso, we are going to disrupt the entire APC in the North and withdraw our support for him. If we set the party on fire, not even Tinubu as a president can put out that fire.
“He had condemned voting for Tinubu in Kano and described the president as an enemy of the North. This is an unhealthy character. It will therefore be a mistake to welcome him to the party or give him any appointment in your government,” he advised.
Tinubu has since maintained a deafening silence about the issue since then.