Kwankwaso’s declaration, rather than to sate the yearning of politicians especially those outside the fold of his ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), opened another avenue for criticisms and doubts about the ruling party’s sincerity to allow the electorates to decide their leaders at the grassroots.
The bulk of the reservations that trailed the announcement was expressed by members of the two major opposition parties in the state, the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), who contended that since Kwankwaso did not put a date on the promise, it could not be taken seriously.
According to the members of the opposition, the word “soon” as used by the governor could mean next one or two years, which they held to be a clear attempt to “take people for a ride.”
Making public the proposed timing for the exercise, they argued, was vital because it could alert them to commence preparations, get their candidates ready and schedule campaign programmes.
Similarly, the critics further faulted the governor for not disclosing the specific time to submit names of members of the state electoral body to the state Assembly for confirmation, saying it was a mere delay tactics Kwankwaso was employing following pressures mounted on him.
The governor was earlier reported to have said that a list of chairman and members of a reconstituted Kano State Independent Electoral Commission would be forwarded for endorsement by the state lawmakers.
Doubting the pronouncement, a chieftain of the CPC in Kano Abdulmajid Danbilki Kwamanda, said his party will continue to mount pressure on the state government until it comes out with a clear date for the local government polls.
On his part, the Publicity Secretary of the ANPP in Kano, Alhaji Nura Ranjas, threatened that if Kwankwaso does not go beyond statements and put his words into to action, his party will be left with no option than to drag the Kano State governor to court over the matter.
Explaining what they said was the cause of the “deliberate” delay, the duo alleged that the state government had cultivated the practice of withholding parts of funds meant for the third tiers of government in the state to finance some of its projects, and would therefore not want to part with it cash cow.
In the past, all criticisms of delaying local council elections by the present administration in Kano had been hinged on the need for people to be given a say with regards to their choice of grassroots leaders, as well as the need to give chance to members of other parties to contest for posts in free and fair election.
There have been allegations of stagnating developments at local levels, owing to government’s refusal to conduct elections, thereby giving its handpicked management officers and be calling the shots to the toothless bulldogs which have no power to execute developmental projects for the areas.
Similarly, observers argue that the local government management officers, by virtue of their appointment by the state executive, must be doing the biddings of their appointing officers than paying interest to the needs of the localities they superintend.
Activists have also harped on the need to widen democratic horizon, when they criticized government’s practice of denying the local government tier of the guaranteed constitutional right of being governed through elections.
More so, opposition parties have on their own described delaying of the local government polls in Kano as the only obstacle keeping them away from power at the grassroots.
Afraid of the litmus test which such elections can prove through sweeping victory, they claimed, Kwankwaso-led government would prefer to put them on hold on end.
They further claimed it will only take the people to go to the polls, before the government is shown that its support base in the rural areas had since thinned.
Some PDP members, however, disclosed that Kwankwaso may not be comfortable with the idea of holding local government elections very soon, given that the division in his party had attained a stage where members of the non-Kwankwasiyya faction of it will not give him their support.
They may opt to vote for candidates of other parties, the members said.
In their calculations, the Kwankwasiyya faction of the PDP, being led by Kwankwaso, may not face serious challenges from opposition parties in the event of an election, than it will encounter from thousands of aggrieved PDP members that have pitched their tents with the anit-Kwankwasiyya faction.
They said the governor was being careful not to hold an election, whose result may end up portraying his government as relevant only in the state capital.
Moreover, they posited, a combination of factions of the PDP and opposition parties can thwart chances of the Kwankwaso-led faction to record any significant victory.
Considering all these, it will therefore, be a big political risk for Kwankwaso to call for local government elections at the moment, especially given that if at the end day his faction loses most of the local government areas, it will be a difficult task for him to actualize his policies, they stated.
Nevertheless, supporters of the Kano State governor have argued that for the two opposition political parties and critics to use his altruistic announcement to accuse him of deceit, smacks of mischief and political grandstanding.
According to them, Kwankwaso had earlier compiled a list of chairman and members of the state electoral body, when opposition parties criticized it of comprising only PDP card-carrying members, thus forcing the governor to cancel its presentation to the state Assembly for confirmation.
His supporters further argued that Kwankwaso’s response by dropping the list was more than a proof of his democratic qualities, but also a challenge to those who had thought he was bent on twisting the process to favour his party.
Not only this, they accused the opposition of showing stark ignorance of the nation’s electoral laws by insisting that the state governor did not give a date for the exercise, which according to them (the opposition) had destroyed its credibility.
Kwankwaso, as a state governor, has only the power to constitute state independent electoral commission, but has no mandate to give date for local government elections or direct the commission in that regards, the stressed.
Similarly, his supporters harped on what they described as Kwankwaso’s unparalleled popularity to dismiss claims of his purported fear for election, saying his PDP faction will always come out victorious.
