Strong indications emerged yesterday that former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, is in talks with the All Progressives Congress (APC) national chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, on plans to join the ruling party.

Sources within the APC in Kano said Kwankwaso had written to the national secretariat of the APC in Abuja informing the party of his intention to join the party.

But this could not be independently verified by Daily Trust as of press time.

However, a source at the APC secretariat in Abuja said Kwankwaso and the APC national chairman have been holding talks in respect of the former?s expected defection and that plans have reached advanced stage.

He said this is sequel to a meeting the former Kano governor had with the presidency on the matter. ?As a party, we will abide by whatever decision the leaders feel is in the interest of the party,? the source added.

Kwankwaso was the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People?s Party (NNPP) in the 2023 general elections and was the force behind the party winning both in the presidential and governorship elections in the state, in which Abba Kabir Yusuf defeated Nasir Yusuf Gawuna of APC.

A reliable source within the Kano APC informed our correspondent that Kwankwaso has submitted a set of conditions for his return to the ruling party.

The source said the letter was forwarded to the APC national leadership in Abuja, rather than the Kano chapter, due to his lingering rivalry with the state leadership of the party.

?We are aware of the letter he submitted but it?s not something we can discuss now. If he is coming, we have nothing against that, he is welcome,? the source said.

?From what we know, he submitted it in Abuja, not in Kano. Whatever the case, once everything is finalized, it will be made public,? the source added.

Pundits say by writing to the party, the former NNPP presidential candidate may have concluded on his next line of action ahead of 2027.

Part of the conditions according to our source include allowing his mentee, the current governor of Kano State, Abba Kabir Yusuf, to fly the APC ticket in the governorship election while he is given a prominent position in the next APC government.

Even though sources close to Kwankwaso refused to open up on how far they have gone with the preparation of moving to the APC, some credible sources close to Governor Yusuf said their principal is ready to move.

?Our governor has no objection at all,? one of the sources said.

?He is only waiting for the green light from his mentor,? he said.

The APC National Director of Publicity, Bala Ibrahim, however, told Daily Trust last night that the alleged letter is in the realm of speculation.

He, however, said the party is ready to welcome Kwankwaso and any other politician who is willing to abide by its progressive ideology and ready to work for the party?s interest.

He said, ?I don?t know anything concerning the submission of a letter by Kwankwaso to the secretariat.?

On whether there were underground negotiations with Kwankwaso, Ibrahim said, ?Not to my knowledge. All these are in the realm of speculations.?

Our correspondents learnt that the proper procedure would have been for the former governor to approach his ward and not write directly to the national secretariat of the party.

Previous moves

Kwankwaso had only last week declared that his party was not averse to joining the APC.

While receiving Buhari Bakwana, a former political adviser to ex-Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, alongside APC members drawn from the 44 local government areas of Kano State, at his Miller Road residence in Kano, the NNPP leader said any discussion of a merger or return to the APC must spell out tangible benefits for his party.

?If you are asking us to join APC, you must tell us what NNPP will gain. We have gubernatorial candidates in all the states and full structures nationwide. What will you offer them if we join?? he queried. ?We are ready to join APC under strong conditions and promises. We will not allow anyone to use us and later dump us,? he maintained.

Kano APC leaders meet in Abuja

In what is believed to be a reaction to the reports about Kwankwaso?s planned move, critical stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from Kano State yesterday held a strategy meeting in Abuja.

The meeting which had in attendance, prominent APC leaders including the Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin; immediate past APC National Chairman, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje; Minister of State, Housing and Urban Development, Abdullahi Ata; and Special Adviser to the President on Senate Matters, Basheer Lado, endorsed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a second term.

The stakeholders also resolved to work assiduously to ensure that the APC reclaims power in Kano in the 2027 governorship election.

Others at the meeting were Senator Kawu Sumaila (APC, Kano South), the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, Abubakar Kabir Bichi; Senator Kabiru Ibrahim Gaya; state chairman of the APC, Alhaji Abdullahi Abbas and many other bigwigs of the APC in Kano State.

APC lost Kano to the New Nigeria People?s Party (NNPP) in the 2023 election and assumed a new status as the leading opposition party in the state.

Addressing newsmen after the meeting which lasted for hours, Senator Barau Jibrin (APC, Kano North), said the meeting examined the state of the party in Kano and the issue of governance and discovered that President Tinubu had done well for the state and the entire country.

?We discovered several projects that have been implemented. Others are ongoing in our state and indeed the entire northern part of this country. We also discovered that so many people have been appointed into various offices in our state and indeed the entire nation, the entire northern part of Nigeria.

?We also examined the fact that our party is now growing from strength to strength because of several interventions made by Mr. President towards alleviating the suffering of our people.

?So we are solidly behind him as said by the former national chairman (Ganduje). We are solidly behind him because he loves us. We have never asked for anything from him that he has not done for us,? he said.

Similarly, Dr. Ganduje said, ?We have resolved that we will continue to work very hard to ensure that we succeed in the next gubernatorial election in Kano State. We are also here to strategize.

?We are also here in order to assure President Bola Ahmed Tinubu that our party in Kano State in solidly behind him. We appreciate his policy reforms. We appreciate the good work that he is doing for the country. We appreciate the good work he is doing for Kano State.?

Ganduje also urged Kano people to actively participate in the ongoing voter registration exercise ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Kwankwaso?s defections

The latest indication given by Kwankwaso to join the APC would mark the fourth time he?s changing party in the current dispensation.

He started as a member of the PDP in the current dispensation and it was on the platform he became the governor of Kano State in 1999 to 2003, but lost a second term bid in 2003. He contested for the governorship seat again in 2011and won to serve a second term under the banner of the PDP.

In the build up to the 2015 elections, he, alongside six other governors fell out with the party and formed a splinter known as the nPDP.

Eventually, Kwankwaso and four of his colleagues pulled out of the PDP and joined forces with the opposition to boost the then burgeoning APC.

Kwankwaso contested for the presidential ticket of the APC in the first primary of the party but came second after late former president, Muhammadu Buhari. With his support, his two time deputy governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje won the Kano governorship seat on the APC platform but before 2019, he parted ways with Ganduje and went back to the PDP.

He supported Abba Yusuf in 2019 on the platform of the PDP, but left ahead of the 2023 elections to the NNPP.

His defection to the APC would mark the second time he would be identifying with the APC.

To many, Kwankwaso defection to the APC did not come as a surprise as it has been long speculated that such a move was in the offing.

Late 2024 when opposition politicians were being wooed by the ruling party, Kwankwaso was among the top three approached, Daily Trust gathered.

This is because among other reasons, it is believed that Kwankwaso?s controls the votes in Kano.

In 1999, he won the governorship seat in Kano on the platform of the PDP and launched a comeback to the Government House in 2011, after losing to Ibrahim Shekarau of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP.

He joined the APC in 2015 and is believed to be one of the strong factors that made the party to win the governorship seat.

Kwankwaso himself won in the Kano Central senatorial elections by defeating his opponent by a wide margin and by 2023, supported Abba Yusuf to snatch Kano from the APC for his new party, the NNPP.

Analysts say because of that, Kwankwaso is seen as controlling no less than 40 per cent of the votes cast in most elections he has interest in.

This has earned him a lot of respect from outside Kano as political leaders intending to penetrate the state which has the second largest number of registered voters feel they have to go through him to harness the bloc votes.

The Tinubu camp is reportedly worried about winning northern votes and is not leaving anything to chance.

Sources say the presidency on several occasions had made efforts to get the former governor to its camp but that the latter has delayed due to certain conditions.

When it was alleged that Tinubu may not run with Vice President Kashim Shettima in 2027, it was said it was in order to give the running mate slot to Kwankwaso whom from calculations is touted as able to bring more votes to the APC.

The difference between the votes Tinubu scored and that of his closest rival Atiku Abubakar of the PDP in the 2023 elections was less than 2 million, which to analysts implied that an alliance with Kwankwaso, who secured over 1. 4 million would have a different impact on the overall results.

Pundits say it is in order to forestall such risks that the presidency is doing all it can to harness higher number of votes in Kano.

The calculation is that as Lagos, Kano, Oyo, Kaduna and Rivers return highest numbers of votes in presidential elections, it would be strategic not to allow an of them fall to the opposition.

Among the five, Kano and Kaduna appear the most problematic. While Kaduna is under an APC administration, Kano is under the NNPP.

It is also believed that Ganduje?s removal as APC national chairman may not be unconnected with the 2027 calculations for Kano.

Ganduje?s camp in the spotlight

One of the likely consequences of allowing Kwankwaso back to the APC, according to sources in Kano is that it may annoy the Ganduje camp which will see the development as undermining its relevance in the state. ?How they may react remains to be seen but they will definitely not be happy,? a source said.

At the national level, it would have a telling effect on the opposition as whatever APC would be gaining in terms of votes in Kano would be the opposition?s loss.

?Even if Kwankwaso does not join the opposition coalition but decides to go it all alone in the NNPP like he did in 2023, it would still have counted for the opposition as it would reduce the votes of the APC,? a source said.

With the defection of Kwankwaso, many believe a vibrant aspect of opposition politics would be whittled down and would add credibility to the claim that the APC administration is pushing for a one party state in future.

Kwankwaso?s defection is also bound to deplete the NNPP as a party by making it lose the only states it controls and with the crisis in the PDP, SDP and Labour party, the only strong opposition would be the ADC, which is currently also not without problems.

Though the INEC has pre-qualified 14 other associations to be registered as political parties, not much is being expected along that line in terms of strengthening the opposition.

The All Democratic Alliance (ADA) which is the easily recognizable of the association has also lost most of the bid wigs that wanted to join the party to the ADC.

It would take time for the ruling party and the opposition to adjust to the reality of Kwankwaso being in the ruling party.

His coming to the APC wound also reignite the speculation over replacing Vice President Kashim Shettima as running mate to Tinubu in 2027.

Kwankwaso and the NNPP

Since the 2023 general elections, the New Nigeria People?s Party (NNPP) has been embroiled in internal crisis, with rival factions battling over control of the party?s leadership, symbols and organizational structure.

One faction loyal to Kwankwaso is led by Dr. Ajuji Ahmed, and the other faction is headed by Dr. Boniface Aniebonam.

The crisis has sown confusion among party members and supporters, and resulted in several law suits filed by both factions, challenging the legitimacy of each other.

In one of the suits, the group loyal to Kwankwaso asked the court to restrain Aniebonam-led faction from convening meetings, conducting congresses, or presiding over the party?s national convention, on the grounds that they had been expelled from the NNPP.

The group?s National Publicity Secretary, Ladipo Johnson, insisted that Aniebonam and his associates had been expelled from the party and urged Nigerians to disregard them.

He clarified that the party?s official logo, featuring an academic cap and a book on a red-white-red background, is registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

?If you check INEC?s website, you won?t find any party registered as NNPP with a basket of fruits as its logo. This is not a factional crisis?it?s their social club,? he said.

Earlier this year, a High Court sitting in the Federal Capital Territory dismissed a suit filed by the Kwankwaso-led camp.

The suit challenged the legitimacy of a faction led by Dr. Aniebonam and National Chairman, Dr. Agbo Major, who also claimed leadership of the party.

The case, instituted by Dr. Ajuji Ahmed and 20 others, sought to nullify the authority of the NNPP?s Board of Trustees and its executive arm, including factional National Secretary, Oginni Olaposi, Deputy National Chairman, Chief Felix Chukwurah and legal practitioner, Tony Obioha.

However, Justice M.A. Hassan ruled that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter, stating that internal party issues?such as disputes over leadership and membership?are not subject to judicial intervention.

?The position of the law, as upheld by the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, is clear: courts do not adjudicate on matters that fall within the internal affairs of a political party, except in cases relating to the nomination of candidates for elections,? Justice Hassan had said.

The court did not make any pronouncement on which faction controls the party?s leadership, leaving the dispute unresolved and further deepening the internal crisis.

While the Aniebonam-led faction interpreted the court?s ruling as an endorsement of its authority, the Ajuji-led camp countered that the court merely declined jurisdiction and made no pronouncement affecting the current leadership structure of the NNPP.

Reacting to the judgment, factional National Secretary, Oginni Olaposi said ?This verdict affirms the legitimacy of the NNPP leadership under Dr. Agbo Major and re-establishes the authority of our Board of Trustees, led by Chief Boniface Aniebonam. It sends a strong message that party matters should be resolved internally.?

Barrister Ladipo Johnson, National Publicity Secretary of the NNPP under Dr. Ajuji Ahmed, condemned what he termed a ?new low? by a ?renegade group? allegedly misrepresenting the court?s decision to falsely claim legitimacy.

?Quite expectedly, some of the defendants in the suit?who remain expelled from the party?have rushed to misinform Nigerians by twisting the judgement. Contrary to their false claims, there was no pronouncement conferring legitimacy or authority on any so-called Board of Trustees,? Johnson said.

He reiterated that the expulsion of Boniface Aniebonam, Major Agbo, Olaposi Oginni, and others?upheld by a Federal High Court judgment delivered on April 18, 2024?remains valid and unchallenged. (Daily Trust, but headline rejigged)

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