By Lanre Oloyede
Following the political crisis engulfing Kano State, Chieftain of the governing All Progressives Congress, APC, Jackson Lekan-Ojo, has opined that the only way the party can reclaim power in the state it has ruled for over nine years in 2027 is if it fielded a political heavyweight like Hon. Ado Doguwa as its governorship candidate.
Chief Lekan-Ojo, who stated this in an exclusive interview with our correspondent, submitted that Hon. Doguwa possesses unrivaled political capital and unparalleled track record more than any other politicians in the state presently who might be angling for the position.
Recall that the APC lost the 2023 governorship election to the rival New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP after over nine years as the party in power in Kano State.
In what many analysts describe as an unprecedented feat, the NNPP wrested power from the APC in Kano during the last general elections.
The victory of the current governor of the state, Abba Kabir Yusuf in the keenly contested March 18 governorship election followed the successes already recorded by his party, the NNPP in the presidential and National Assembly elections. The party won two out of the three senatorial seats and majority of the House of Representatives seats from the state.
Since the assumption of office of the NNPP-led government there has been a running battle between the governor and his predecessor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, who is now the national chairman of APC.
Recently, a group of ward executives in Ganduje Ward of Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area had purportedly announced the suspension of Ganduje from the party based on allegation of corruption levelled against him by the state government.
However, the leadership of the party in Ganduje Ward of Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area Monday accused the NNPP-led Kano state government of sponsoring elements in the ward to announce the suspension of its national chairman.
The government swiftly denied any involvement, labeling it an “internal crisis” within the APC.
Reacting to this unfolding development in the state, the party chieftain, Lekan-Ojo, noted that the attack on Ganduje is just a smokescreen but the grand plan was to completely run APC aground in Kano ahead of the 2027 elections.
The experienced security expert advised party stakeholders in the state to look at the bigger picture by strategizing to shop for a formidable candidate with enough political weights to unseat the NNPP in Kano.
According to him, of all the heavyweights in Kano presently, only Hon. Doguwa is eligible to contest as Ganduje and Senator Kabiru Gaiya can no longer contest the governorship election in the State.
He said: “If APC could recognize some relevant players, crowd pullers, people who have been in the political saddle for years and have been relevant and still remain relevant in the political scheme of Kano, then they are on their way to reclaiming the state.
“One of such Influential personalities is the current Chairman, House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa .This is someone that within his domain has been very active and Influential. Doguwa has been in the national assembly since the time of Kwankwaso in those days during the Babangida era. Since that time till the present dispensation he hasn’t lost an election. Even though I don’t know him and he doesn’t know me but I can tell you for free that Doguwa is someone who has the keen interest of Nigerian politics.
“Look at Kano State in the last presidential election, Ado Doguwa was the only major political force that was able to deliver his constituency for the APC and Tinubu. People like senator kabiru gaya with all his experiences wasn’t able to deliver his constituency. I wonder why Doguwa wasn’t speaker of the tenth assembly because as the majority leader in the ninth assembly, he worked very closely with the then speaker, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila who is now the Chief of Staff to the President without any disagreement or rancor. Such a person, if given the opportunity, you’re sure of him delivering his senatorial district to the APC. If I can have my way, I’ll say he should be given the opportunity to contest the governorship position of Kano State in 2027.
“I know so many politicians in Kano who have gone under, nobody is hearing about them again. Where is Salisu Buhari today? Before Ghali Na’aba died, nobody knew he was still alive. If not that Ganduje is the national chairman of APC, nobody would have heard anything about him. Where is the Ibrahim Litu of those days? But Ado Doguwa still remain relevant till now and beyond. People like that should be handled with more care and respect by the party. He can use his popularity, relevance and political clouts to win elections for the APC in 2027. People like Ado Doguwa can deliver Kano State back to APC come 2023.
“Ganduje, Kwankwaso, Shekarau cannot be governor of Kano State again. Ado Doguwa was very young at age 26 when he contested together with Kwankwaso in 1992 and won. Kwankwaso became governor, loss elections, became governor again but Doguwa has not lost any election he participated in. So, if Kwankwaso who was house of representatives member became governor with less popularity how much more Hon. Doguwa who has been winning elections since he first contested till now and his popularity is growing and everywhere?
“As a chieftain of APC I want APC to win Kano because if we win Kano it’s like winning four States in some parts of the country. Kano has a very weighty bloc vote and I believe Doguwa can deliver this votes for the APC. He has been faithful loyal and patriotic to the party and president Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Remember he was a very vocal voice in the North pushing the ’emilokan’ agenda even when forces in the North didn’t want Tinubu to get the ticket.”
Speaking on the purported suspension of Ganduje, the Osun State-born politician opined that the plot might not succeed in consuming Ganduje like it did Adams Oshiomole, Uche secondus and Iyorchia Ayu because some good hands in the party like Hon. Ado Doguwa are pressing buttons and pulling strings to prevent that from happening.
Chief Lekan-Ojo also noted that this plot wouldn’t have happened without the connivance of some fifth columnists within the party.
“But if the pressure gets too much, I will advise Ganduje to resign because it will be better for him to resign honorably than for him to be rubbished.
“But I will like to say that if there are no forces within it wouldn’t have been possible for NNPP to instigate the removal of the National chairman of the party. These forces may not even be from Kano. Don’t forget that there are some people who are agitating that the post be zoned back to the North Central because when Adamu and Omisore were removed the post of Omisore was zoned back to the State he came from while that of Adamu wasn’t. What is happening in Kano is not an implosion from inside but an explosion from outside.
Weighing in on the Yahaya Bello and Economic and Financial Crimes Commision,EFCC says, the APC chieftain berated lawyers defending the former Kogi State governors from coming out to defend allegation of corruption leveled against him.
” I see that we are drifting towards a situation whereby corruption will govern the country. Some legal luminaries that you expected to know better are coming to defend Yahaya Bello that he has gone to court to stop his arrest and prosecution after allegation of corruption, I think we are setting a bad precedence. What that means is that anybody can commit any crime and run to court to get injuction to stop his arrest and prosecution. So there’s no point keeping EFCC and ICPC.
“Yahaya Bello is being accused to have allegedly stolen N84bn and if EFCC says they want to see you, if you don’t have anything hidden you should go and see them and not run to court. Similar thing happened to former governor of Ekiti state, Ayo Fayose when he was alleged of corruption after his tenure, he went to present himself to EFCC and was granted bail. So for me , Yahaya Bello should bring himself out and be a free man but if he is hiding for ten years he will be worse than than a prisoner,” chief Lekan-Ojo said.
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