At least two top former aides of Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, have been appointed into the campaign council of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) for next year’s governorship election in Kano.
Those appointed into the campaign council of the NNPP in a list sighted by Daily Trust at the weekend include Ali Makoda, the immediate past Chief of Staff (CoS) to Ganduje, and Muhuyi Magaji Rimingado, the suspended Chairman of the state’s Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission, who contested for the governorship ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after he left the All Progressives Congress (APC).
While Makoda was appointed as the Director General of the NNPP Campaign Management Directorate; Rimingado, who has not announced his defection to the party, was appointed director in charge of security and surveillance.
Daily Trust reports that with Governor Ganduje backing his Deputy, Nasir Yusuf Gawuna, as the flag bearer of the APC, and former Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso backing his in-law, Abba Kabir Yusuf, of the NNPP for the state’s top job, many analysts have said the 2023 governorship election in the state could be a repeat match of the 2019 poll which Ganduje won after inconclusive and rerun elections.
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But a crisis within the APC before the party’s primaries had pushed out several of the party’s stalwarts while others also joined the party from other parties.
Notable among those that left the APC is Makoda; former speaker of the state assembly, Alhassan Rurum, who is a serving federal lawmaker; and ex-federal lawmaker, Kawu Sumaila; as well as Rimingado who left earlier since he fell out with the governor.
Also, a former associate of Kwankwaso and former SSG, Rabiu Suleiman Bichi, has since left the leadership of the Kwankwasiyya movement and teamed up with Ganduje and now leads the governorship campaign council of the APC in the state.
A source in the leadership of the NNPP told Daily Trust yesterday that the choice of both Makoda and Rimingado was strategic and not just to send a message but to achieve victory.
He added that they were aware that Rimingado played a similar role but unofficially for the APC in the 2019 elections.
Confirming his appointment to Daily Trust, Rimingado said although he was not consulted before he was given the appointment, he had decided to accept it because it showed that the party valued his contributions and that he would give his best to ensure the party’s victory despite not yet being a card-carrying member of the party.
Meanwhile, the NNPP has flagged off its governorship campaign in the state at Kwanar Dangora in Kiru LGA.
Speaking at the event, the governorship candidate, Abba Kabir Yusuf, promised to ensure that the campaign was issue-based, while assuring the mammoth crowd that turned out for the event that his administration would prioritise infrastructural development of not only Kano metropolitan area, but also the rural communities.
Also speaking at the campaign flag off, Makoda, said he felt fulfilled to be back in the Kwankwasiyya family in the NNPP and would ensure that the NNPP took over the government house in 2023.
Tinubu will defeat Kwankwaso in Kano — State gov’t
Meanwhile, the Kano State Government has said the presidential candidate of the APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, would defeat the presidential candidate of the NNPP, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, in next year’s elections.
Commissioner for Information in Kano State, Muhammad Garba, who spoke at a lecture organised by the Kaduna League of Veteran Journalists, with the theme: “Let’s Talk Nigeria”, said Tinubu would defeat Kwankwaso like MKO Abiola did to Bashir in the 1993 general polls.
He said, “History will repeat itself in the 2023 general elections, as the APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will defeat a former governor of the state, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, like MKO Abiola did to Bashir Tofa during the 1993 presidential election.”
From Clement A. Oloyede (Kano) & Maryam Ahmadu-Suka (Kaduna)
