Fresh facts have emerged as to why the Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai endorsed Senator Uba Sani (APC, Kaduna Central) as the consensus governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Daily Trust reports.
Daily Trust had on Thursday broke the news of the endorsement of the lawmaker by the governor.
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The report followed an exclusive story of this paper published on March 13, where members of the El-Rufai’s core team were unveiled including Uba Sani. The governor had said that his successor would emerge from the team.
The 10 other members of the team are the deputy governor, Hadiza Balarabe, the secretary to the state government (SSG), Balarabe Abbas Lawal, three commissioners – Bashir Saidu (Finance), Muhammed Sani Abdullahi (Budget and Planning) and Samuel Aruwan (Internal Security).
Others are Senator Sule Kwari (Kaduna North), Jimi Lawal (Senior Adviser Councillor), Hafiz Bayero (Administrator Kaduna Municipal Authority), Muyiwa Adekeye (Special Adviser Media) and Saude Atoyebi (Deputy Chief of Staff).
It was gathered that three members of the team including Sani, the Deputy Governor, Hadiza Balarabe and the Commissioner of Budget and Planning, Muhammed Sani Abdullahi, popularly known as Dattijo were being considered.
A source close to the governor said Sani came top in a series of polls conducted to assess the “popularity, experience, exposure, acceptability and marketability” of the trio.
Following the outcome of the polls, the members of the core team were summoned to a meeting, where Sani was picked as the consensus candidate.
The source said, ” His experience as a presidential aide during Obasanjo’s administration, political adviser to El-Rufai and track record at the Senate earned him the endorsement.
“The stakeholders wanted the best of the three to be endorsed so that APC can approach the primaries as a united house. Though the two other gubernatorial aspirants have impressive curriculum vitae and have proven their capacities in the last seven years, Sani has more grassroots support,” he said.
A party source said Sani was the best bet for the APC. ” To retain power, we need a popular candidate. The deputy governor and Dattijo are relatively new in the game.”
He also said the lawmaker has supported the state government through legislative intervention at the national level.
“Two of the 21 bills sponsored in the Senate have been signed into law by the president. He had also used his influence to secure funding for the construction of Faculty of Engineering at the permanent site of Kaduna State University(KASU),” he said.
The team, it was gathered, also resolved that the deputy governor will retain her seat, Dattijo will vie for the senate and Senator Suleiman Kwari of the Kaduna North Senatorial District will retain his seat.
