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I have read some publications in which Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso lamented the decision of Governor Abba Yusuf to abandon the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), reportedly describing it as a “betrayal.” What an irony.
Firstly, Kano’s political history shows a consistent pattern of fallout between godfathers and their governors. In 1979, Aminu Kano helped Abubakar Rimi win the governorship, only for Rimi to later part ways with him.
In 1998, Musa Gwadabe helped Rabiu Kwankwaso clinch the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket and win the governorship in Kano. Kwankwaso, however, soon parted ways with him. The same Kwankwaso!
Kwankwaso was also instrumental in Dr. Umar Ganduje’s emergence as Governor in 2015, yet Ganduje eventually broke away from him. Similarly, Kwankwaso played a key role in the election of the incumbent Governor, Abba Yusuf, in 2023, and they have now parted ways as well.
Given this history, how does Kwankwaso expect an incumbent governor to remain under his control when he himself was never under the control of Musa Gwadabe? How can he expect Governor Yusuf to remain perpetually beholden when every governor in Kano, including Kwankwaso himself, has asserted independence from their “helpers”?
Why, then, is Kwankwaso complaining that Governor Yusuf has abandoned the NNPP for the APC, when he himself left the PDP, on whose platform he won the governorship in 2011, for the APC in 2014 without vacating his office? Likewise, he later abandoned the APC, on whose platform he was elected Senator in 2015, for the PDP in 2018, again without vacating his seat.
I am neither in support of nor opposed to Governor Yusuf’s decision, nor am I against Kwankwaso. My point is simple: Kwankwaso should be prepared to swallow the same pills he once administered to Musa Gwadabe and the PDP.
