Former Kano State Governor, Ibrahim Shekarau, is on the verge of creating a political comeback to the All Progressives Congress (APC), following a sequence of high-level conferences with key political figures.
The transfer, if finalised, is predicted to reshape political alignments in Kano forward of the 2027 basic elections.
Sources aware of the event revealed that the previous Minister of Schooling has concluded plans to dump the Peoples Democratic Get together (PDP), the place he at the moment serves as a member of the Board of Trustees.
His resolution is claimed to be largely influenced by latest consultations with Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Abba Kabir Yusuf.
It was gathered that Shekarau held a personal assembly with President Tinubu in Lagos through the Easter interval. The assembly reportedly occurred on the President’s occasion and was coordinated by prime APC figures.
Discussions are believed to have centred on strengthening the ruling social gathering’s construction in Kano, a state extensively considered a significant political battleground.
In a associated transfer, Governor Yusuf on Sunday paid a go to to Shekarau at his residence in Kano. He was accompanied by the APC State Chairman, Hon. Umar Haruna Doguwa, and the Commissioner for Transportation, Barr. Haruna Isa Dederi. The go to is being interpreted in political circles as a deliberate effort to deliver the previous governor again into the APC fold.
The event comes shortly after Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso additionally met with Shekarau in an try to safe his help for the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Whereas that effort didn’t yield the specified end result, Kwankwaso was in a position to persuade Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna, an in depth ally of Shekarau and former Deputy Governor of Kano, to affix the ADC after resigning his federal appointment.
Kano’s political panorama has witnessed fast modifications in latest months. The scenario escalated in February when Governor Yusuf parted methods with Kwankwaso and defected from the New Nigerian Peoples Get together (NNPP) to the APC. The transfer was seen as an try to consolidate management over his political construction amid inner disputes throughout the NNPP.
Kwankwaso himself just lately exited the NNPP for the ADC, a call many observers imagine was pushed by the necessity to rebuild his political base after dropping affect in Kano.
Shekarau, who stays a key determine within the PDP’s Kabiru Taminu Turaki-led faction, had earlier defended Yusuf’s defection. He argued that political motion is just not uncommon, drawing parallels with Kwankwaso’s personal previous actions.
Talking throughout a radio programme, Shekarau mentioned: “When he (Kwankwaso) left the PDP for the APC, he took the governorship seat together with him. Why didn’t he give up it to the PDP? In the identical manner, Abba can transfer the NNPP seat to the APC.”
The previous governor was among the many founding members of the APC however left the social gathering after a management tussle with Kwankwaso over management of its construction in Kano. Though each males reconciled in 2022, their alliance later broke down attributable to disagreements over energy sharing.
When contacted, Shekarau’s spokesperson, Affiliate Professor Sule Yau Sule, confirmed that the conferences with President Tinubu and Governor Yusuf occurred. He defined that his principal remains to be consulting extensively and can make his place identified in the end.