Who’s Plotting To Unseat Ganduje As National Chairman?

I was entertained by a hilarious political skit that played from Kano State last week. A group which called itself Coalition of APC Kano Youths called on Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje to step down as National Chairman of the party! Their reason is that he failed to deliver Kano State to the APC in the governorship election.

By the way, Kano State went to the opposition New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) led by Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, a former governor of the state and Ganduje’s former associate turned political rival.

Ganduje was Kwankwaso’s deputy when he was governor of the state during his first term and when he did his second term years later. The two parted ways shortly after Ganduje succeeded him as governor of Kano in 2015, and have since become fierce political rivals.

Now, an APC group in Kano coming out to demand Ganduje’s sacking as National Chairman of the ruling APC at a time the party does not control the Kano Government House is illogical and contrary to the mores of politics.

But the missing gap was provided when the group, in the same statement, urged Kwankwaso to rejoin the APC while also congratulating the NNPP Governor of Kano, Abba Kabir Yusuf, on his victory at the Supreme Court, and assuring him of their cooperation and support.

It became obvious to me who was scheming to bring down Ganduje from the Olympian political height he’s attained under the current political dispensation. It’s obviously a struggle for power and influence between two former political associates who’ve turned into bitter rivals.

I had written an article shortly after the inauguration of Tinubu as president, predicting a clash between Ganduje and Kwankwaso and advising the president to find a way to bring the two men together. Both men are his friends and it’s his call to make them work together. I know it’s not going to be an easy task for the president to call a truce between the two political giants. But if there’s anyone who can do it, it’s the Jagaban.

Those fighting Ganduje in Kano are underrating his capacity for warfare. Ganduje is one of the most underrated politicians in Nigeria. I must confess, I was also one of those who sold him short until recently.

It’s easy to undervalue him when you assess him from afar like many of his critics do. He’s not your boisterous, charismatic poster boy politician in the mould of the late Abubakar Rimi. He doesn’t possess the rhetorical skills of the late Dan Masani Kano, Yusuf Maitama Sule.

But he surpasses the two in cerebral pursuits. He’s a master strategist who uses his brain, not emotions in making decisions. It is the reason Tinubu has stuck with him despite opposition from some elements within the APC.

My opinion of Ganduje has metamorphosed from a dull, uninspiring political jobber to a consummate political tactician and strategic thinker. His political accomplishments despite what I thought about him have won me over. Let me share one or two anecdotes that changed my mind.

In 2014 when Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso was going to end his second tenure, he was playing games and kept everyone guessing about who would get his support among about four of his associates, including Ganduje, who were jostling to take over from him. I had travelled to Kano to investigate a story and decided to take time off to talk to some important personalities in the state on who they think would succeed Kwankwaso.

One of those I spoke to was a female commissioner in Kwankwaso’s government (I don’t want to mention her name) who I believed was in the inner circle of the then Governor Kwankwaso. When I asked her the question, she replied with the same question. She asked me who I thought Kwankwaso would support. I had no problem giving her my answer. I told her straight away “I don’t know who he would support but I know it’s not going to be Ganduje!”

She laughed and asked me why? I explained to her that I didn’t think Ganduje would be smart or intelligent enough to hold a state as complex as Kano! She laughed again before getting serious with me. That was when she told me who Ganduje was and what he meant to the administration of Kwankwaso. She said Ganduje was “the brain behind Kwankwaso’s administration.” She said they were aware that Kwankwaso was unwilling to back him, but that I should watch out!

Of course, Ganduje got the Kano APC ticket and eventually became a two-term governor even after falling out with Kwankwaso in the second year of his first term. Verdict: Don’t underrate Ganduje

In the 2023 presidential election, no one gave APC’s presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu any chance against Kwankwaso and Atiku Abubakar—two politically strong northerners. Infact, everyone thought Kwankwaso, who had a cult followership among the youths, would sweep the state and leave nothing for the others. Moreover, ex-president Muhammadu Buhari seemed to have totally ruined whatever chances the party had with the Naira redesign policy which came amid fuel scarcity.

There was palpable anger on the streets of Kano so much that Buhari was advised not to visit the state. But aides of Ganduje I spoke to at the time were confident the party would not fail. They said Ganduje was on the ground. Ganduje too had publicly assured Tinubu that his party would win Kano.

The APC did not win the presidential election but Tinubu beat Atiku Abubakar to the second spot and secured more than 25 percent of the votes!

A lawyer friend also told me a story of his encounter with Ganduje. He said it was after he emerged national chairman of the APC. He had gone with a group for a presentation. He recalled that Ganduje appeared to be sleeping throughout the hour-long talk. But when it was time to respond, his response was the most incisive! He started respecting the man from that day.

By now, his foes in Kano must know who he is. He’s a cerebral fighter. He reminds me of late Bola Ige who boasted during the fight against Nigeria’s military junta who annulled the June 12 Presidential Election that they would be defeated without the pro-democracy movement firing a single shot!

President Tinubu knows his man well enough not to put him down. In the heady days leading to the 2023 election, Ganduje stuck with him. Only a man of strong conviction could do that. People like Ganduje and the others, including Malam Nasir El-Rufai, are men of convictions who deserve whatever position they get in Tinubu’s government.

Tinubu knows his man well enough. At Ganduje’s 74th birthday celebration, Tinubu described him as a “consummate politician, a loyal, and dependable ally.” Ganduje needs no more testimonials.

Mr Suleiman is the Managing Editor of The Whistler Newspaper

Disclaimer: This article is entirely the opinion of the writer and does not represent the views of The Whistler.