Kwankwaso, Shekarau Groups Express Concerns over Kano PDP Crisis

Iyobosa Uwugiaren in Abuja

With few weeks to the commencement of the primaries to elect candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for 2019 general election, critical stakeholders in the Kano State branch of the party have expressed thoughtful concerns over the recent dissolution of the state party’s structures by Uche Secondus-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the party.

Speaking with THISDAY in Abuja last night, some of the party’s state leaders, who pleaded anonymity, said Kano State is too strategic for the party in the coming elections, and advised the national leadership of the party to do everything within the shortest possible time to resolve the brewing crisis.

In a statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, PDP announced the dissolution of the state party’s structures and promised to constitute interim organs to run the party’s affairs in the state.

However, those who spoke with THISDAY said the crisis in Kano State PDP was a product of ‘’poor management’’ of dissatisfying issues, which cropped up as a result of the recent defection of Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and his huge followers from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to PDP that expectedly, created disagreement between him and the former governor of Kano State, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau.

‘’One of the mistakes PDP’s national leadership made was that before the defection of Senator Musa Kwankwaso and his followers from APC to PDP, the national leadership of PDP designed a template for sharing of the party’s structures in the state, without first discussing it with all sta≠≠≠≠keholders in the state,’’ one of the leaders of Kwankwassiyya, a political wing of Senator Kwankwaso said.

‘’In the template, 51per cent of the state’s structure was given to Senator Kwankwaso-led group, while Shekarau was given 49 per cent; the party also agreed on automatic party’s tickets for all defecting members of House of Representatives and State House of Assembly – Kwankwaso’s followers.

‘’With the template, it was obvious that Senator Musa Kwankwaso was highly favoured and expectedly, Mallam Shekarau and his group rejected the template.’’

On the point of disagreement, a member of Shekarau-led group said they did not agreed with the designed template because of the time factors and the legality or otherwise of removing those who were lawfully elected, without considering the political consequences.

The source added, ‘’When the template was eventually discussed, even though we were not consulted before it was designed, we did not agreed. First, we felt the timing was wrong, we just have few days to the primaries; we did not also agreed on the proposed automatic tickets for the defecting lawmakers, and we advised the that the tickets should be shared among the groups because that would mean giving all the tickets to Senator Kwankwaso’s group.

“Even the prepared ratio on how delegates should emerged, was also very contentious; but while we were still discussing the vexed issues, the national leadership issued a statement, claiming to have dissolved the state party’s executives, in spite of court order against it. Of cause, that was illegal.’’

Leaders of both Kwankwaso and Shekarau’s groups, who spoke with THISDAY last night, said that Scondus-led NWC took the ‘’unwise decision’’ without weighing the huge consequences of its action.

“The purported dissolution of the state executives directly affected over 11,898 members of the party in Kano State. At the ward level, we have about 11, 088 executives; at the local government level, we have 792 executives, and at the state level, we have 18 executive members, totalling over 11, 898 affected members’’, a member of Shekarau-led group stated.

“The intricacy of Kano politics is very complex and dangerous; people can fight with the last drop of their blood to protect their party’s positions. We cannot afford to create crisis in Kano PDP when general election is fast approaching.’’

On his part, one of the influential leaders of Kwankwaso-led group said, ‘’It is a common sense that the decision by PDP national leadership to dissolved the state executives of our party was unwise action.’’

Moving forward, both groups advised the national leadership of the party to do everything within the short possible time to resolve the vexed issues.

‘’The party must do everything to reconcile all groups within Kano PDP; if need be, they should review the template that will be acceptable to all challengers; we cannot afford crisis in Kano now. With the federal might of APC, we need the combination of Kwankwaso and Shekarau’s political forces to win the state’’, a political associate of Kwamkwaso stated.

‘’More so, our leader, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, who eyeing the presidency cannot afford to have a crisis in his state; it is not good for him; everything must be done to resolve the unnecessary crisis.’’

The source added that followers of both groups had suffered huge political actions of APC in the past few years, saying ‘’enough is now enough.’’