APC Kano Central Senatorial Contest in the Eye of the Storm

The march towards the 2023 General Elections has started off amidst interesting permutations on how to select the best candidates that would dedicate themselves to stemming the obvious drift of the nation, and put Nigeria on the desired path to sustainable growth and development.

While such permutations are on at the national scene, a similar scenario, or an even much more interesting one is currently playing out in our most strategic constituency, the Kano Central Senatorial District in Kano State.

When in 2011, we gave our mandate to a man of honour and dignity, Senator Basheer Garba Mohammed, we were sure of what we were expecting. And indeed, we surely reaped the benefits of our good choice by the end of his tenure in May, 2015. In fact, given his adroitness, as well as care and concern for the good of our people, he not only served us diligently and selflessly, this gentleman par excellence who is commonly referred to by our people as Ladon Alheri, exceeded our expectations.

Now, the contest is on to select a flagbearer for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Kano Central Senatorial District’s election in 2023. And we are quite disturbed by some surreptitious moves within the party to impose an unpopular and inexperienced person, Abdulsalam Saleh Abdulkarim, as the candidate. This is a person with an excess baggage, who lacks the moral fiber to stand as standard bearer of a party like the APC.

A. A. Zaura, as he is often called, lacks the moral grit to represent the people of Kano Central Senatorial District because he has a case filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against him. Zaura’s ongoing court case will surely be a liability for the APC, if he is fielded as senatorial candidate.

This is why we, Concerned Kano Citizens, feel that we cannot sit idly by and allow the unpatriotic moves by certain vested interests to handpick Zaura as our candidate. As the late American civil rights activist, Martin Luther King Jr. once said: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” The choice of the Kano Central senatorial candidate for the APC is a crucial decision for several reasons. One, Kano is an exceptional state in Nigeria, what with its huge population and politically mature citizens. Secondly, Kano Central is the biggest and most strategic of the three senatorial districts in the state, because it has the highest voting population.

Thirdly, the choice of Senator for this zone has so many implications for the elections of the President and that of governor of Kano State. Because of its voting strength, Kano Central is like a swing zone. Much more so, the date for senatorial election coincides with that of the President. And since the two elections are taking place the same day, the APC must be mindful of the bandwagon effect, should it put forward Zaura, whose moral baggage and poor reputation are huge deficits, and could therefore impact negatively on the outcomes of the two elections for the party.

We, the Concerned Citizens of Kano, therefore believe that the most appropriate person to be endorsed for the party’s ticket is Senator Basheer Garba Lado. He is the most competent and capable person to give Kano Central the quality representation that we deserve in 2023, because he has the personality and the pedigree to do so, and is therefore a great electoral asset to the party. He is a household name across Kano State. There is no home where his name will be mentioned and the residents would not shower praises on him, in view of his uncountable humanitarian support towards the people.

He had served us excellently well between 2011 and 2015 when he represented Kano Central in the Senate. Most notable among his Constituency projects is the building of the Kundila Bridge, popularly known as GADAR LADO (renamed after him by the good people of Kano State), as well as the Dualisation of the Kano-Katsina expressway. We believe that he can now do even better than he did during his first shot, given the kind of support and confidence he enjoys from our amiable leader, President Muhammadu Buhari.

When he defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC in 2018, President Buhari personally signed a letter of appreciation to the Senator over his thoughtfulness. In the letter dated 25th January, 2018, the President said: “I was most delighted to receive your letter informing me of your impending decision to formally declare for our great party, APC”, adding that, “I am very encouraged to learn that you are bringing thousands of new supporters into the fold”.

President Buhari, who rued the missed opportunity to personally receive Senator Lado on the day of his defection to the APC in Kano, due to another engagement outside the country, enthused that: “I hope I shall have the pleasure of welcoming you to the Presidential Villa in the near future”. Such is the character and personality of Lado, who undoubtedly, will be a towering candidate over and above all his co-contenders, once the APC fields him as its flagbearer for the Kano Central Senatorial election in 2023.

And this confidence of President Buhari in Senator Basheer Lado is most certainly what informed the President’s decision to appoint him as Director in charge of Contact and Mobilisation in the North, in the Presidential Campaign Council, during President Buhari’s reelection bid in 2019.

For the benefit of those who may not know much about him, Senator Basheer Garba has an enviable profile. Born on the 16th of October, 1966 in Kano, this visionary leader is a humanitarian and philanthropist with decades of experience in developing national policies and frameworks towards the benefit of Nigerian citizenry. His record of achievements spanning twenty-five years in both public and private sectors, traverse politics, construction and the use of effective project management to harness progressive outcomes.

Ladon Alheri is equally a team player and an influencer, possessing excellent communication, negotiation and interpersonal skills, which have developed positive relationships that both influence and engage stakeholders at various levels when he first served us as Senator between 2011 and 2015.

It is in view of all the aforementioned facts that we, Concerned Kano Citizens reiterate out clarion call for the unanimous endorsement of Distinguish Senator Basheer Garba Mohammed (Ladon Alheri), as the APC’s flagbearer for the Kano Central Senatorial Election in 2023.