APC, TINUBU UNDER PERIL FROM NEW KANO CRISIS

Bola Ahmed Tinubu

Bola Tinubu, the party's presidential candidate, is under threat as the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano State deals with a new issue

This time around, the Deputy Gubernatorial candidate of the party, Muritala Garo, and a number of House of Representatives members, led by Majority Leader Ado Doguwa, are at odds.

According to MON DIARIES, Garo said that the majority leader assaulted him last week after the latter disrupted a meeting of state stakeholders, which Garo claimed was in progress.

People with knowledge of the situation claim that the deputy governorship candidate, a member of a well-known Garo family, served as the state's commissioner for local government and chieftaincy issues, a post that gave him significant power within the State. Atiku Abubakar's daughter is reportedly his wife, according to reports.

Even though Garo expressed interest in running for governor, Umar Ganduje chose Nasiru Gawuna instead. He was given the running mate position to appeal to the young Garo.

However, since he has served in the House of Representatives since 2003, Doguwa is one of the MPs who is anticipated to express interest in becoming the 10th Assembly's speaker if he is elected.

This latest row may indicate a major problem in the party considering that Doguwa won the 2019 elections after a rerun, and he faces the battle to return to the House.

It would be recalled that during the primaries, the Kano APC almost collapsed due to an internal crisis that led to several politicians decamping to the NNPP. To stem the flow, Ganduje suspended his senatorial ambition by allowing two senators from the State to return during the primaries.

Given that Doguwa won the 2019 elections after a rerun and is battling to return to the House, this most recent argument may signal a serious issue inside the party.

As may be remembered, the Kano APC nearly disintegrated during the primaries as a result of an internal conflict that saw some politicians defect to the NNPP. By permitting two senators from the State to run again during the primaries, Ganduje was able to stop the flow and put his bid for the Senate on hold.

Atiku and Rabiu Kwankwaso are both waiting to take advantage of the crisis's consequences as the conflict in the State appears to have resumed.

Kano and 2023 race

A number of presidential elections have been decided by the votes cast in Kano State, which has long been the largest voting state. With 1,464,768 (78.9%) of the total votes cast, Buhari defeated Atiku in Kano State in 2019 and received votes from 1,391,593 voters.

Since Buhari is no longer a candidate, Mr. Atiku of the PDP and Kwankwaso of the NNPP are two of the favorites in the State.

In the months leading up to the elections, Tinubu has placed the State first. Since announcing his intention to run for president, Tinubu has spent the most time in Kano, followed by Lagos and Abuja.

He plans to hold two rallies in Kano State, the first in January and the second before the campaign's grand finale in Lagos State.

Doguwa stated that Rabiu Kwankwaso is still influential in the State notwithstanding the side talks during a news conference held at the National Assembly on Thursday. He further stated that if the crisis is allowed to continue, APC will lose the State.

"His last wife now is the daughter of Atiku Abubakar. When he was not given the ticket, I visited him, and he told me that since you have messed me up, I will rather become an inlaw to the president than a deputy governor who will make me just like a messenger. He has no interest to work for the APC, he is working to become an in-law to the next president," he said.

In the press conference, Doguwa also commended Kwankwaso and said that if the former governor of the State is willing to reach out to him, he would be ready to make amends.

He clarified that his beef with Kwankwaso is not political; rather, it is personal. He said that the ex-governor could end the situation

APC should forget Kano, according to Doguwa, if the party leadership is not prepared to step in.

The discord between Messrs. Doguwa and Garo may have cost Tinubu's party the State's 5,927,565 votes.