39.9 C
Nigeria
Friday, March 29, 2024

Dumping APC painful but inevitable for me – Shekarau

Dumping APC painful but inevitable for me – Shekarau

Former governor of Kano State, Senator Ibrahim Shekarau, has said it was painful for him to decamp from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), but it was an inevitable move.

According to him, Kano State governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, frustrated him out of the APC.

shekarau made the disclosure during a press conference held at his residence on Wednesday after becoming a card-carrying member of the NNPP.

Shekarau said from 2019 to date, Kano State government under the leadership of Ganduje has neglected him and his political allies.

“The state governor had adopted and pursued the policy of exclusion of Sardauna, his supporters and political associates from G7 on all matters affecting the party and government.

“We were never consulted or invited to functions or meetings organised by the APC as critical stakeholders,” he said.

Shekarau explained that other contributing factors to his defection included the year 2020 local government election, where Ganduje single handedly selected and appointed those whom he wished as executives.

He said similar situations repeated itself during the election of party executives, stressing that all these  motivated them to hold parallel but legitimate elections which led to the emergence of Haruna Zago as chairman.

“It’s common knowledge that election of party officials at wards, local government and state levels were not conducted in accordance with the stipulated guidelines.

“In that 2021 party executive election, people were handpicked and appointed at will and with impunity by governor Ganduje,” Shekarau said.

Other contributing factors, according to Shekarau were lack of respect for the national secretariat agreed principles, citing the example of a situation where former governors who were serving senators were given a privilege of automatic tickets.

He said they arrived at the decision when 100 per cent of supporters agreed on defection to another party, while 80 per cent proposed NNPP as the new political destination.

After series of speculations that have circulated for days, Shekarau Wednesday afternoon left the APC.

His spokesman, Sule Ya’u Sule, told Nigeria Sketch in a short message that “Finally, His Excellency Senator Ibrahim Shekarau today officially announced his exit from APC and was immediately registered and issued with a membership of NNPP.”

Shekarau and Kano State governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, have been at a loggerhead over party leadership issues for months, and the Supreme Court lately resolved the matter in favour of the governor.

The Group of Seven (G-7) which Shakarau leads to fight for the control of APC in Kano State became distraught and some of its members, Shekarau inclusive, decided to dump the party for another.

Shekarau’s advisory council (Shura), after a week’s mandate to decide the movement’s line of action following all the disagreements in Kano APC, came with a verdict that the former governor and all his followers should quit the ruling party.

Although, Governor Ganduje made late frantic efforts to discourage Shekarau from leaving the party, his moves were countered by another former governor of the state, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, who is the de facto leader of NNPP in the state.

Ibrahim Shekarau, dumps APC, joins NNPP, automatic ticket, Sule Ya'u Sule
Senator Shekarau receiving his NNPP Senatorial Nomination form from Senator Kwankwaso.

According Sule, “Shortly after Malam Shakarau officially joined the NNPP, the leader of the party, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso presented to him the Kano Central Senatorial form.”

By implication, Shekarau has gotten an automatic ticket to re-contest as Senator representing Kano Central federal constituency.

 

Share your thoughts on the story Dumping APC painful but inevitable for me – Shekarau with Nigerian Sketch in the comments section.

Faruk Khalil
Faruk Khalilhttps://nigeriansketch.com/
Khalil Faruk (Deputy Editor-in-Chief), has a Bachelors and Master's degree in Political Science and has worked as a reporter, features editor and Deputy Editor-in-Chief respectively in a leading Nigerian daily. He has undergone trainings in journalism, photo journalism and online journalism within and outside Nigeria.

Related Articles

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Stay Connected

20,694FansLike
3,912FollowersFollow
0SubscribersSubscribe
- Advertisement -spot_img

Latest Articles