About two years to the conduct of 2023 general elections, politicians eying for the seat of governor in Kano state have begun to emerge, Daily Telescope can report.
Checks by Daily Telescope indicated that although it is not time for political campaigns, however, the political atmosphere in the state is being heated by politicians that are keen to succeed the incumbent governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
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In the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), findings revealed, the state’s Deputy Governor, Dr Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna, former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Kabiru Alhassan Rurum, Commissioner for Local Government, Murtala Sule Garo and Senator Barau Jibrin were the top contenders eyeing for the seat.
Other competitors are on the platform of the APC are Alhaji Abdulkarim Abdulsalam Zaura and Alhaji Inuwa Ibrahim Waya.
Unlike in the APC, in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Engineer Abba Kabir Yusuf, the party’s governorship candidate in 2019, is the only politician that so far indicated interest for the contest.
However, there are two more prominent politicians, Muhammad Sani Abacha and Alhaji Salihu Sagir Takai that may probably join the race in due course.
Dr Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna
As deputy governor, Gawuna is being considered by many politicians as natural successor of the incumbent governor, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje.
According to political analysists, Gawuna as loyal and diligent second-in-command may enjoy the support of the governor to secure the ticket.
The experts also opined that as a contender struggling with few political opponents within and outside the party, the presumed natural successor will encounter less or no challenges in securing the APC ticket for the race.
Another added advantage to the deputy governor, they argued, is that he is the only outshining contender in the most populated zone in the whole state (Kano north) for now.
However, his major setback as far as the 2023 governorship contest is concerned, is that he belongs the political camp of the former governor of the state, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau.
Kabiru Alhassan Rurum
Like Gawuna, Rurum, a former speaker of the state house of assembly, has every chance of not only getting the APC ticket, but winning the secondary election if allowed to be the party flag bearer.
Hails from Kano south, the former speaker is enjoying the support of major political stakeholders in the zone including the former Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Assembly matters, Abdulrahman Sulaiman Kawu Sumaila; Rep Alhassan Ado Doguwa; deputy speaker of the state assembly, and many members in the state and national assemblies.
Rurum is an aggressive politician that is difficult to defeat in election. The lawmaker has brought many developmental projects to his people when he was speaker and now member representing Rano/Kibiya/Bunkure federal constituency.
Although, Rurum has a greater chance of becoming the next governor of the state, however, the political equation of the state has to be changed if he is to be picked for the job. Many strong contenders including the deputy governor, have to be edged out form the race in order to pave way for the former speaker to reign.
Murtala Sule Garo
Recently, in a trending video clip on social media platforms, the wife of the governor, Professor Hafsat endorsed the candidature of the commissioner.
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Gwaggo, as she is fondly called in the state, stated at a function in Ungogo Local Government Area of the state that Murtala Garo is the ideal person to succeed her husband, Dr Ganduje.
“The state needs a versatile politician like Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Murtala Sule Garo to take over from my husband in 2023,” Gwaggo said in the video clip.
In the widely trending video clip, APC supporters were seen jubilating when the First Lady made the statement.
However, the first lady’s action, Daily Telescope observed, may not be unconnected with the role the commissioner played in the 2019 general elections which led to conduct of the inconclusive election that saw her husband victorious.
Though, Kano state government through the state’s Commissioner of Information, Malam Muhammad Garba, has debunked the statement attributed to the wife of the governor, but political pundits averred that the video clip has grievously injured the governorship ambition of the commissioner.
The analysts have it that the first lady has tested the acceptability of the commissioner to the electorates and from the peoples’ reactions, if Garo is chosen as APC’s flag bearer come 2023, the party may likely suffer defeat.
Senator Barau Jibrin
Senator Barua Jibril may find it difficult to get the APC ticket having come from the same zone with the incumbent governor. Maliya as he is fondly called, will also face vehement resistance from Kano south and Kano central’s competitors, who have been agitating for power shift to one of the zones since the Kano central has governed for six consecutive terms.
The senator may also face internal resistance from Murtala Sule Garo, who is also from Kano north. Garo and Maliya have been at each other’s trout in their quest to achieve their political ambitions.
According to experts, whoever among them gets the ticket, the other will do everything within his power to scuttle the chance of his opponent.
Abdulkarim Abdulsalam Zaura
Zaura is being considered by many pundits as one of the few contenders that have no bright future in the 2023 governorship race in Kano. He is being regarded as mere contender not true politician and that his efforts to secure the APC ticket may likely end up as total failure.
His major disadvantage is that he is not allied of governor Ganduje, and also lacks resources and political structure to compete with the rest of the contenders to secure the party’s ticket, not to talk of winning the election.
Inuwa Ibrahim Waya
Like Zaura, Inuwa Waya is also regarded as a contender whose political ambition may not likely see the light of the day. He is being rated as unpopular competitor that cannot play any significant role in election.
According to analysists, apart from lacking political structure and resources to stand as party flag bearer, his contest will rather linger internal crisis within the party than uniting its members.
However, experts predicted that to for the ruling party to achieve a successful soft landing in 2023, governor Ganduje and indeed the big wings in the party should support either Gawuna/Garo or Gawuna/Rurum joined tickets to race in 2023.
Pundits have rated both Gawuna/Garo and Gawuna/Rurum tickets as the best combination which if supported, APC can retain power beyond 2023.
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For each of the combinations to succeed, the political experts argued, the incumbent governor must also allow Senator Ibrahim Shekarau and Senator Barau Jibrin to re-contest for their seats, while Kawu Sumaila should be allowed to replace Senator Kabiru Ibrahim Gaya to represent Kano South in the red chamber of the National Assembly.
For now, only time can tell who among the prospective competitors and many others to come, will clinch the coveted seat in 2023.
