When the All Progressives Congress (APC) decided to conduct direct primaries against the usual indirect method, those fed up with the present dismal turn of events heaved a sigh of relief knowing that was good riddance of the rot inherent in the present dispensation.
Bashir Mohammed writes on impact on the Kano primaries.
When primary method ruffled feathers Cynicism and utter discontent with dismal performance of some political actors, the electorate had appeared to have dampened the morale of tens of thousands of the electorate who had placed much expectation on the shoulders of those whom they voted for to represent them in every sphere of leadership and governance.
The direct primaries method adopted by the APC seems to ginger the confidence of those who had completely lost faith in the ability and capacity of political office holders to live up to their billing, taking into cognizance the fact that direct primaries would exposed them since it would no longer be business as usual with the socalled delegates who are usually taken undue advantage of and made to vote a candidate with a doubtful pedigree.
Kano being a melting pot of intense political activity, had initially welcomed the development, most especially within the APC fold knowing that direct primary gives voters the ample opportunity to elect a credible candidate who is revered and adored by the larger section of the electorate and would ever be ready to resist the temptation of acceding to primordial interest.
The issue had ruffled feathers as many legislators knew they were unlikely to secure second term tickets since their stewardship at the National Assembly had not met expectation.
Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje saw the need to convene a reconciliatory meeting among contestants of various posts in order to reduce the animosity created among those contesting for certain positions under the same political party.
Following the intransigent posture adopted by some of the contestants not willing to agree to take a consensus position, the governor was left with no alternative but to allow for the conduct of the primaries and thus make it possible for every contestant to have a clear mind on the election process not a selection gimmick invented to edge them out of the race.
Manner conducted The primaries were marred by alleged irregularities in some parts of the State with conflicting accounts of the election results in some quarters resulting in series of claims and counter claims.
This opened the floodgate of possible accusations and venom spitting even on the personality of the governor himself for allegedly keeping mum while all that transpired.
Ganduje’s implacable critics had foes pointing accusing fingers at him based on their vaunted claim that he had failed to address the rot during the conduct of the primaries.
But the governor refused to be drawn into the fray being the head that wears the crown.
Kawu Sumaila vs Kabiru Gaya The most contentious issue hotly debated by optimistic political pundits in the State was the out-come of the Kano South Senatorial District which was declared to have been won by the incumbent Senator, Alhaji Kabiru Ibrahim Gaya, who defeated his opponent in the race, Alhaji Sulieman Abdulrahaman Kawu Sumaila.
However, thousands of the latter’s supporters expressed surprise at his defeat.
The out-come had indeed created tension and disbelief unprecedented in the political history of the state because of the fact that Kawu Sumaila is presently commanding considerable clout in Kano South as against his archrival Kabiru Ibrahim Gaya, who according to some indigenes of the 16 Local Government Areas had almost out-lived his political usefulness.
Gaya’s supporters were of the opinion that his twelve years stewardship in the upper chamber of the National Assembly had Our fear is that with the calibre of people cleared to contest in the forthcoming general elections, our opponents in other parties could use it as bargaining chip to challenge the legitimacy of their candidacy in court after elections into various seats were conducted.
At the end of it all the elections could be nullified in favour of the opposition at the expense of our great party.
been eventful, spectacular and marvelous considering the giant strides he had effected in transforming his area, a feat that could not have been achieved had the Senator remained in a perpetual slumber on his seat, they argued.
The Senator himself, had a recent press conference in his Kano residence told anyone who cared to listened that he had been a wunderkind politician who had never tested the fangs of defeat since he became a governor almost at his tender age up to the present status claiming that courtesy of his diplomatic finesse and love for entreaty he had never lost any war he had fought for a coveted seat.
Kawu Sumaila had on his part, told his teeming supporters in an audio clip he released just a day after he was announced loser that he had entered the race for the Kano South Senatorial District with the firm support and goodwill of governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, having the conviction that justice would be done as far as the conduct of the primaries was concerned.
According to him, he was aggrieved that no election was held in some areas as confirmed by his representatives drafted to the areas on the election day and wondered how his opponent Senator Kabiru Ibrahim was able to secure over one million votes even as the number of registered voters was not up to a half of the number of votes said to have been cast in favour of Senator Gaya.
It was however, a widely acclaimed notion in Kano that the Senior Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters is also a politician commanding populist appeal with his supporters that cut across the shores of the Kano South Senatorial District.
He said he had tested the political waters in the present democratic dispensation as a prominent actor in the National Assembly.
Coalition of losers Kawu Sumaila’s grueling ordeal and that of other contestant who were edged out of the race had inspired them to form a coalition of about 60 contestants who had lost in the bid to clinch the ticket of the APC-led by Senator Isah Yahaya Zarewa, the man who was defeated in the Kano north Senatorial District.
Zarewa, had recently said the contestants’ bone of contention was the cavalier manner the primaries were held or rather it was never held completely adding that what the contestants want is for justice to prevail.
“What we want people to understand is that we are not fighting the governor or any other person for our predicament.
What we want is justice.
We were seriously being persecuted in the election process and we have every cogent reason to speak out.
We are calling for the right thing to be done.
“We have no intention of leaving our great party or doing anything to cause disaffection within its fold.
We will never do anything to jeopardize the chances of the party in the 2019 general election in the name of antiparty.
We want the conduct of the primary to be revisited and this requires the urgent intervention of the national leadership” he added.
“Our fear is that with the calibre of people cleared to contest in the forthcoming general elections, our opponents in other parties could use it as bargaining chip to challenge the legitimacy of their candidacy in court after elections into various seats were conducted.
At the end of it all the elections could be nullified in favour of the opposition at the expense of our great party.
“If such a worst case scenario happened, even the governor himself, would be surrounded by hostile legislators that would sabotage his government as it is happening now under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari.
This is our fear and we want people to understand our grouse”, he stressed.
It was, however the opinion of prominent political pundits in the State that the ball is now in the court of the national leadership of the APC to wade into the present stand-off in Kano in the wake of the contentious APC primaries, where 60 contestants have formed a coalition to reject the out-come.
