…The Senator Kwankwaso connection
By Peter Obiechina
For many followers of the intra-party politics of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, last Saturday’s zonal congresses across five zones were expected to be ‘mere’ formalities.
With the exception of the South West congress, moved to Monday, April 12, 2021 because of the contentions between Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo state and former Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti, all others were expected to go on smoothly.
This is, especially, as each of the 23 positions up for grabs at the zonal congresses had been micro-zoned to the different states that make up each zone.
For the North West zonal congress of the PDP, however, events did not go as planned by organisers. In fact, 365Daily gathered that observers at the congress held at the Kaduna International Trade Fair venue had noticed early signs of trouble from the Kano contingent.
Tension hung thickly in air following the insistence of the two factions of the party in Kano to slug it out for the strategic position of National Vice Chairman of the zone, ceded to Kano.
With a sea of heads – including accredited and non-delegates who milled around the venue – adorning the Red cap insignia of the Kwankwasiyya group promoted by Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, it was only a matter of time before crisis erupted, with the thugs invading the venue, breaking election materials, including ballot boxes and papers just as voting commenced.
The violent shown by the thugs led to an abrupt halt of the process, with delegates scampering to safety.
Sources at the venue told 365Daily that the disruption of the congress was a last ditch effort by the Kwankwasiyya movement to avert looming defeat of it’s preferred candidate at the zonal polls.
In deed, the plan to disgrace Kwankwaso at the zonal poll was said to have been hatched in Kano many months ahead of the Kaduna poll.
Our correspondents in both Kaduna and Kano reported that what was to have happened at the Kaduna zonal poll was sealed with the factionalisation of the PDP in Kano state between the Aminu Wali and Kwankwaso groups.
365Daily gathered that veteran Kano politician and former Foreign Affairs Minister, Wali had emerged leader of the mainstream faction of the party while Senator Kwankwaso held on to a diminished cluster of what used to be a mass movement in the state
“Clearly, even before we left Kano for Kaduna we all knew that the candidate supported by the Aminu Wali faction will win the election. We have more than 80 per cent of members of our party in our faction, so we knew what was going to happen,” a chieftain of the party who belongs to the Wali faction told journalists on condition of anonymity, since according to him, it would not be right to escalate the situation when the national body of the party was yet to speak on the matter.
Senator Hayatu Gwarzo, who was said to be favoured to win the election for the position of the National Vice Chairman was up against the candidate supported by the Kwankwasiyya movement for the same position, Hon. Mohammed Jamiu.
Speaking, even before the congress got underway, Kwankwaso told the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC that Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto state had procured the nomination form of Senator Hayatu, thus setting the stage for the crisis that erupted later.
Besides sounding like a classic case of the witch crying in the night, and the baby dying in the morning, many analysts wonder how Kwankwaso was able to talk about crisis hours before it occurred, without having precipitated same.
“It is indeed laughable that Kwankwaso would seek to demean a fellow senator by alluding that he cannot buy himself a nomination form to seek an intra-party office,” Abiola Oladunjoye, a political analyst said.
Continuing, Oladunjoye said: “The position of National Vice Chairman is for the entire North west, so it cannot be the internal affair of Kano state, especially as there was more than one aspirant for the position.”
A source in Kano was to describe Kwankwaso’s allegation as cheap and false.
“He (Kwankwaso) is just looking for what to blame his fading political influence on. What is happening now in the party is his fault. He did not listen to calls to democratise the party and allow other interests to be represented.
“In the past, Kwankwaso had boasted repeatedly that no politician from outside of Kano can dictate what happens in the party in the state, so what is he saying now,” the source queried.
Many PDP members at the botched congress in Kaduna viewed the display by the political thugs fingered as the last gasp of a waning political godfather.
“At the 2019 Port Harcourt presidential primary election, Kwankwaso came a disappointing fourth”, one delegate remarked, pointing out that he may well have gone past his glory days.