- Kano politics as a distraction
With just ten days left for the President-elect to takeover, it seems like the countdown clock is ticking faster than he had anticipated, as some side issues kept cropping up, thereby distracting his attention and may possibly force him to work overtime to complete his transition agenda before May 29.
The least unexpected challenge that reared its head in the last few days, and for which he attempted to midwife in far away Paris, is the pregnant Kano politics that prematually went in to labour with severe contraction that required cesarean section to save both mother and baby.
The baby’s father and two-time Governor of Kano State, Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso had weeks ago dropped the bomb when he told newsmen that the incoming administration of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), which he created and nurtured, will revisit what he called “the balkanisation of the Kano Emirate.”
The statement had been translated by many, to mean that the new Governor, Abba Yusuf (Gida-Gida) and the state’s Assembly, will reverse the split of the emirate and return it to statusquo, which by implication may also mean the return of Sanusi Lamido on the throne.
But the outgoing Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, swiftly reacted by saying that the five emirates that he created after dethroning Sanusi, was done as “a symbol of unity and progress, and are here to stay.”
If anything, Governor Ganduje’s harsh language did not help the situation. Instead, it added more fuel to the fire as both the incoming Governor, Abba Yusuf and Sen. Kwankwaso, interpreted the outgoing Governor’s daring challenge as an open war.
May be, Ganduje, who is leaving office in ten days, was banking on the intervention of the President-elect on the matter, but forgot that Kano State is a federating unit with its own laws that he ironically used to dethrone Sanusi for his public comments on certain policies of the Government.
It was reported that the Asiwaju had over the weekend met with the NNPP leader as well as Emir Sanusi and pleaded with them not to reverse Ganduje’s balkanisation of the former Kano emirate.
It is not clear whether Sen. Kwankwaso has agreed with the President-elect’s plea, but if he does, it will be a double political victory for Ganduje, who is also tipped to come away with a ministerial appointment for his role among other Northern Governors in supporting Tinubu at both the primary and the presidential elections.
