Four Candidates in Hot Race to Succeed El-Rufai

John Shiklam reports that four serious candidatesare to slug it out during the March 11, 2023 poll to succeed Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state.

In Kaduna state, the governorship election promises to be fierce and interesting.

There are 17 governorship candidates of the various political parties, but the major contenders are Senator Uba Sani of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC); Ashiru Isa of the Peoples Democratic (PDP), Jonathan Asake of Labour Party (LP) and Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP). 

They are not leaving anything to chance in their quest to win the election. 

However observers are of the opinion that the contest would be a two horse race between Sani and Ashiru. 

Sani, a serving senator, representing Kaduna Central Senatorial Zone, is the anointed candidate of the outgoing governor, El-Rufai. 

He retained El-Rufai’s Muslim-Muslim ticket introduced in 2019 by selecting the current deputy governor of the state, Dr. Hadiza Sabuwa, as his running mate. 

Before his election as Senator in 2019, Sani had served as political adviser to El-Rufai in 2015. 

His campaign jingles and programmes dominates virtually all local radio stations in Kaduna. 

He and his running mate have been criss crossing nooks and crannies of the state, promising to review and build on El-Rufai’s achievements in the past seven and half years, though citizens of the state are not generally agreed on the governor’s achievements, especially, Christians, who see him as a biased leader.

Besides, there is a general view, rightly or wrongly, that El-Rufai’s development projects were not spread across the state and that many people lost their means of livelihood. 

But last year, the governor begged the electorates in the state not to punish the APC governorship candidate for his mistakes (El-Rufai’s),

maintaining that Sani was more generous than him and pleaded for forgiveness from those he might have offended. 

Sani is indeed a politician loved by the masses. 

Some people described him as generous and compassionate.

He promised to create jobs, tackle insecurity. 

His manifesto is based on a seven-point agenda which, according to him, is, aimed at improving the lives of the citizens. This include strengthen Safety and Security; Upgrade of Infrastructure, Strengthening institutions, enhance Trade and Investment.

Isah Ashiru, the PDP candidate, is contesting for the governorship race for the third time. 

A two term former member of the state house of assembly and later two term member of House of Representatives, Ashiru crossed over to the APC in 2014 and contested  with El-Rufai for the governorship ticket, but he lost. 

He was the PDP candidate in 2019, again, he lost to El-Rufai. Ashiru is determined to defeat Sani in the election having garnered the good will of some people who are aggrieved with the APC administration in the state. 

He has been promising to review the policies of the APC government in the state. 

His five points agenda centred on security, education, health , agriculture as well as women and youth empowerment. He also promised to review the issue of sacked workers in the state.

However, the alleged infighting among some prominent members of the PDP is not  healthy for the party. Also, the usual bloc votes of the PDP in Southern Kaduna is no longer feasible as the votes would be shared with the LP and the APC who have made inroad to the area. 

Suleiman Hunkuyi, a former senator who represented Kaduna North Senatorial district on the platform of the APC in 2015, is also not new to the contest. He is the candidate of the NNPP. 

Hunkuyi is a grassroots mobiliser in his own right. 

In 2015, he led the campaign that resulted in the election of El-Rufai before they eventually fell apart. But some people alleged that he is a spoiler. Besides, the NNPP in Kaduna state, has been embroiled in crisis. Late last year, the state chairman of the party resigned his position, accusing Hunkuyi of alleged dictatorial tendencies. 

However, the NNPP candidate promised that if he is elected governor, he will reverse all “bad policies created by Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s administration”. In an interactive session with some stakeholders in Kaduna, Hunkuyi said, all the anti-people policies of El-Rufai would be reviewed by his administration, if he is elected governor. He said some of the issues that will get immediate attention if elected governor, are to review or reverse the dismissal of teachers,  Local Government staff, medical and health workers, issues of entitlements, pensions, review of the sacked District Heads, among others. 

On security, Hunkuyi said, he would ensure that there are adequate, well trained and equipped security personnel.

Jonathan Asake, candidate of the LP, was one of the pioneering  federal lawmakers at the inception of the Fourth Republic in 1999. 

Until he joined the governorship race, he was the President of the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU). He is popular in Southern Kaduna, though the area had been a stronghold of the PDP since 1999. In 2019, the area was said to have produced the highest vote to the PDP in the 2019 presidential race across the country.

Asake is running his campaign on a five-point blueprint, which according to him, was carefully researched and put together to provide direction for the development of Kaduna state based on the social philosophy of the LP.

“We have beautiful plans stated in five pillars. The first is security of lives and property. The second is sports, women and youth empowerment. 

The third is human capital development. The fourth is inclusive economic and infrastructural development. The fifth is institutional reforms,” he said during a visit to the Emir of Zazzau (Zaria).

He also promised to operate an all inclusive government, based on justice, fairness and equity. 

According to him, the El-Rufai government has sharply divided the state by his biased policies and promised to unite the people through justice and equity if elected governor. 

However, like Hunkuyi, Asake is seen by some section of people as a spoiler whose ambition is aimed at giving victory to the people. 

There are also allegations that the LP candidate is being sponsored by the APC to divide the bloc votes in Southern Kaduna and make it win. 

Asake has, however, dismissed such allegations as cheap blackmail by some people who are threatened by his popularity and chances of winning the governorship election.