The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje, on Thursday, invited Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano State to join the APC.
The invitation followed speculations earlier this week that President Bola Tinubu was in the process of reconciling Mr Ganduje and his former boss, Rabiu Kwankwaso, to have the 2023 presidential candidate of the New Nigerian People’s Party (NNPP) back in the APC.
Mr Kwankwaso had left the APC to return to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) following differences with the then governor, Mr Ganduje, before moving to the NNPP to run for president in last year’s elections.
When a PREMIUM TIMES’ editor spoke with Mr Kwankwaso on the speculation that he was about to return to the APC, he neither denied nor confirmed it. “I am outside the country,” he said before abruptly cutting the call.
An aide of Mr Ganduje, however, confirmed that the APC national chairman was in his home state to consult with leaders of the party drawn from the 44 local government areas of the state on the discussion at the highest level of the party to have Mr Kwankwaso and his followers back in the ruling party.
It was in continuation of that process that Mr Ganduje, who is the immediate past governor of the state, was in Kano late Wednesday on his first visit to the state since he left office last May.
He thereafter convened the APC stakeholders meeting in Kano on Thursday, the first gathering of leaders of the party since the Supreme Court settled its bitter dispute over the state’s 2023 governorship election in favour of Mr Yusuf of the NNPP.
After the meeting in Kano, on Thursday, Mr Ganduje said the APC plans to absorb the NNPP and make Kano a one-party state. NNPP had won the presidential and governorship polls in the state as well as a majority of the state and federal legislative seats in the state.
“We have resolved (at the meeting) to open our hands widely, we have resolved to provide an enabling environment to get more people into our party, and very soon we are starting with the electronic registration and we have resolved that Kano will produce the highest number of APC membership,” Mr Ganduje said at the meeting.
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“This is not possible until we open our doors for others to come in. Myself, as the National Chairman of our party, we are working very hard round the clock with members of the national working committee to get more members into our party.
“We have many senators and members of the House of Representatives who have joined the party and very soon, some governors will join our party,” Mr Ganduje continued.
“If we can do this at the national level, why can’t we do it at the state level? Our hands are open, and we are appealing to those who like to join our party, in particular, we are inviting the governor (Abba Yusuf) and his officials to join our party, the APC.
“We are calling him with a loud voice that we are creating an enabling environment for the governor of Kano State and his party to come into our party so that we make a solid and large followership. Since we are the most populous state in the federation, also we must have the highest followership of APC in Nigeria,” Mr Ganduje said.
Mr Ganduje said Kano is critical in determining Nigeria’s presidency, saying no party can afford to lose the state.
“Kano State is a swing state, to win the presidency, the votes of Kano State are critical, essential and indispensable. Therefore, we will work day and night to ensure that Kano is converted to a one-party state, that is, an APC state.
“Our discussions have gone far with all the smaller political parties apart from the NNPP, and we are appealing to them to come back to our party, to abandon their party. And from the looks of things, Kano state will be a one-party state,” Mr Ganduje added.
APC wooing Kano for 2027
Sources said Mr Ganduje was tasked by President Bola Tinubu to meet APC members in Kano over the Supreme Court’s judgement and brief them about discussions to have Mr Yusuf and his political godfather, Rabiu Kwankwaso, back in the APC.
The source said Mr Ganduje is expected to brief the president on the feelings of the party members in Kano, after which the president will host Mr Yusuf and his team.
The development followed the Supreme Court’s judgement that affirmed Mr Yusuf’s election as governor. The judgement brought wild criticism of President Tinubu by the members of the APC in Kano who accused the president of betrayal. Some members of the APC in the state reacted immediately by uploading photos of former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, to indicate their rejection of the president for the 2027 election.
Mr Tinubu had last week met behind closed doors with leaders of the Kano APC. Those in attendance were Mr Ganduje, the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin; the party’s governorship candidate, Nasiru Gawuna; the state minister of FCT, Mariya Mahmoud; and a member of the House of Representatives Alhassan Doguwa.
A communique jointly signed by Messrs Doguwa and Ganduje’s chief of staff, Muhammad Garba, said the meeting agreed to reposition the APC in Kano.
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