Amidst the crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano State, a former governor of the state, Senator Ibrahim Shekarau, leader of G-7 challenging the Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje’s leadership of the party, has met with the national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Tinubu’s media aide, Mr Tunde Rahman, confirmed that Shekarau met with Tinubu in Lagos yesterday.
An impeccable source said the two former governors discussed the crisis in Kano APC, which some observers see as a threat to Tinubu’s presidential ambition.
“Asiwaju is the national leader of APC, who is always seeking the good of the party. You don’t expect him not to intervene in a crisis within the party, especially considering the voting population of Kano and how strategic it is to the party,” the source said.
One of the members of the G-7 told Daily Trust that Shekarau had the mandate of the group to meet with Tinubu especially now that they (G-7) have taken over the leadership of the party in Kano State.
He, however, said they are not amenable to reconciliation with Governor Ganduje especially because of the pendency of another suit challenging the governor’s leadership of the party in the state.
An FCT high court had last week gave a judgement upholding the parallel congress held by the Shekarau-led faction that produced Ahmadu Haruna Danzago as chairman, voiding the Governor Ganduje faction’s ward congress that eventually produced Abdullahi Abbas as chairman.
Following the court judgement, some hoodlums set ablaze the campaign office of Senator Barau Jibrin (APC, Kano North), one of the federal lawmakers that made up the G-7. Also, officials of the state’s Bureau for Land sealed the property housing the office of Nuraini Jimoh (SAN), the lawyer that secured the court judgement for the group. The state government had denied complicity in the arson and said there was nothing political in the sealing of the property.
On Saturday, Governors Kayode Fayemi and Muhammad Badaru Abubakar of Ekiti and Jigawa states respectively addressed Alhaji Ahmadu Haruna Danzago as Kano APC Chairman during the 21st anniversary of Mambayya House in Kano, a development many saw as the confirmation that the governors are on the side of Shekarau’s G-7.
Similarly, the Sunday meeting between Tinubu and Shekarau came as a shock move for observers of Kano State politics, especially as the relationship between Ganduje and Tinubu has been blossoming in the last few months.
Tinubu who, though has not officially declared his intention, is expected to be a major contender for the APC presidential ticket in 2023, and the former Lagos governor has been a frequent visitor to Kano State in the last few months, a move many see as part of plans towards getting the needed votes come 2023.
Both Shekarau and Tinubu could not be reached for comments on the closed door meeting as at the time of filing this report.
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