How Kaita lost election in 1979 but won in 1983 – NPN chief

A former Chief Accountant of the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN), Senator Abdullahi A. Gumel (APC, Jigawa) said the late elder statesman Lawal Kaita was a dogged politician.

In a telephone interview, Gumel recalled how the deceased won an election in 1983 after losing it to Alhaji Balarabe Musa in 1979. 

“He was a dogged politician who was our candidate for 1979 governorship election in the old Kaduna state. He was defeated by Alhaji Balarabe Musa of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) but he re-contested in 1983 and won the election.

“After he was defeated in 1979, he was made the Presidential Liaison Officer (PLO) for Kano state. We had PLOs appointed by the president then in all states. When the 1983 election approached, he went from house to house and slept in the ward, not local government headquarters. He drank the water and food of the villagers during the campaigns.

“It was that campaign strategy that led him to victory at the poll. When the military struck and democracy was truncated, he was arrested like all other public office holders but he was one of the first set of people that was released because he wasn’t found wanting,” he said.

Gumel said the late Kaita would be remembered for his role in the G-34, a group that confronted late General Sani Abacha’s military administration in the 1990s.