The secret deal propelling the defection of former governor of Kano State and leader of New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabiu Kwankwaso to the ruling All Progressives Party seems to have reached an advanced stage as he (Kwankwaso) has been penciled down as Vice President candidate in the 2027 re-election ticket.
A source close to the Presidential Villa who spoke with Pointblank News on condition of anonymity revealed that the re-election strategy of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is an idea that is been handled by Tinubu’s old ally and top notch political strategists, adding that even the Vice President is on the dark concerning the cards on the table.
He divulged that those working on the re-election projects have closely observed that the coalition being sponsored by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasiru El’Rufai are pushing the north against the President and shopping for a northern candidate to challenge the president on the calculation that if they can get the buy in of northern states, then the candidate will be coasting to victory.
The movement of PDP governors into the APC has also been linked to the re-election project. It was learnt that after former aide to the President, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed voiced out that nobody can become a president without the support of the North, the re-election team started consolidating their grip on the south by poaching PDP governors to ensure that with about 80 percent votes from the entire south and north central, the re-election project will be a work over.
“Tinubu’s men are very sensitive. Baba-Ahmed revealed to them that he is holding the power block in the north so they quickly moved to the south and north central. They are negotiating with as many governors as possible to move into APC. Those who are not disposed to moving, they are striking a deal with them to ensure that their states vote Tinubu for President while the governor’s re-election will also be guaranteed” the source told pointblank News.
He noted that in a counter move, the re-election team dangled the irresistible Vice Presidential slot before the former Kano State governor on the calculation that if they are able to get the support of the Kwankwasiyya movement that cuts across many states in the north, the re-election project will be a done deal.
He said that the North is presently disenchanted with the Vice President and see him as weak as he has not been able to push for the inclusion of more northerners into sensitive positions in the present administration.
“Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso is being considered as a replacement for Vice President Kashim Shettima who appears to have fallen out of favour in the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Presidency. The calculation is that Kashim’s electoral value in the North East is not up to that of Kwankwaso in the North West, especially with El’rufai pushing hard to deal with Tinubu in the North West,” he said.
An aide to the former governor of Kano state confirmed that talks are on-going and concessions are being made before
Kwankwaso can publicly join the APC.
He said, “You know that Kwankwaso is politically sagacious. What he did by shielding Kano from the PDP and Obedient movement wave of 2023 was exactly what Tinubu did in 2007 when every ACN state in the Southwest but Lagos was taken by PDP.
“As a master strategist, Tinubu is on the know that Kwankwaso’s political influence in the North is unparalleled. They have been talking and I know that a big offer is on the table and will be revealed at the right time”.
Meanwhile, there is disquiet in the camp of the Vice President, Kashim Shettima who is considered as the major victims of the new power deal.
Earlier, former political adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the Vice President’s Office, Dr. Hakeem Baba Ahmed who resigned his appointment recently, had complained that the Vice President is cut out and sidelined in the power realignment and that the President is inaccessible.
Speaking with journalists, recently he said, “The president is really and genuinely isolated, whether by choice or circumstance. This isolation poses a challenge for the country.
“The bottom line is, he ought to be available for the people he trusted and worked for him and that’s a problem for the country.
“I only saw President Tinubu three times in the mosque in the presidential villa. But I had never had a chance to sit down and talk with President Tinubu. I think part of the problem is that Tinubu never had time for people like us. I don’t think he had time for a lot of people working for him,”
However, the source at the Villa confirmed that there is a crack in the presidency and Shettima is aware of possible replacement and has started to support the coalition secretly and pushing his men to talk down on the present administration, magnify its loopholes and project while it should not be given a second chance.
“Kashim has been briefed on the possibility of his removal and has also began working against BAT re-elections in 2027. He encouraged Baba Ahmed’s resignation as Special Adviser, political, and has also voiced his frustrations as VP to some top political leaders” he said.
Some chieftains of the APC are jittery that their interest could be sacrificed with the entrance of Kwankwaso and his NNPP bloc.
A party source in Kano State revealed that the NNPP lawmakers that defected to APC, Senators Sumaila Kawu, Honourables Aliyu Sani Madaki and Kabiru Usman Rurum had been promised automatic ticket to secure their return to the National Assembly to consolidate the return of Kwankwaso.
“If Kano State governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, decides to join Kwankwaso into the APC, it also means the deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin, who is also nursing a governorship ambition will bury it” the source said.
It was also learnt that the return of Kwankwaso into the party is one of the biggest problems facing Ganduje, as it signals not only the end of his tenure as APC chairman but ultimately the end of his political career.
To remove these obstacles, Tinubu quickly reactivated the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and former governor of Nasarawa State, Tanko Al’Makura is being proposed as a successor to Ganduje as APC National Chairman.
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