A few weeks ago, there were intense speculations online that President Bola Tinubu plans to appoint the 2023 presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabiu Kwankwaso, as a minister.
However, at the appointed time, Kwankwaso’s name could not be found on the list, which was submitted to the Senate for screening and eventually confirmed.
There were claims that the faceoff between the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje and Kwankwaso may have hindered his ministerial appointment.
Empowering Oppositions
According to sources who spoke with The Guardian, President Tinubu jettisoned the idea of appointing Kwankwaso into his cabinet because he believed there was no sense in empowering the opposition, who would eventually use the resources to fight back.
Besides, it was gathered that the president was equally discouraged by the demolition of public property constructed by the Ganduje administration by the new NNPP government in Kano.
The Director of Publicity at APC national headquarters, Bala Ibrahim, had last weekend stated that the persistent attack on Ganduje’s legacies in Kano may have cost Kwankwaso a position in Tinubu’s cabinet.
Kwankwasiyya Movement
Ibrahim said, “Kwankwaso is a force to reckon with in the politics of Kano. But the way and manner his Kwankwasiyya Movement goes about conducting itself has made the support for Kwankwaso wane gradually.
“This is because of the brigandage the movement is bringing into the politics of Kano, and, by extension, Nigeria.
“The president must have felt the pulse of the public and weighed the relevance and implementation of his policies, particularly his effort to win the hearts of the Kano people.
There is no way you will dismiss the political maturity, sagacity and experience of Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje when it comes to the way he plays politics in Kano.
Political Weight
“If you weigh the two on a calibrated scale, the political weight of Ganduje is by far higher than that of Kwankwaso.
“I believe the President must have listened to people who will give him honest and sincere advice, people who read the political temperature of the state very well.
Not those who are misguided by the hullabaloo of the commotion caused by the brigandage of the Kwankwasiyya Movement.
Political Dynasty
Meanwhile, a reliable source in Kwankwanso’s camp stated that he communicated his rejection of a ministerial appointment to Tinubu as a strategy to secure his political dynasty.
According to the source, Kwankwaso was clever enough to quickly withdraw, realising the political calculation of Tinubu to gag his influence in Kano politics tactically.
The source also maintained that rejecting the ministerial appointment alone has altered Tinubu’s early scheming for the 2027 elections.
Kind Rejection
The source said, “For anyone to have thought President Tinubu would ever think of withdrawing Kwankwaso’s ministerial appointment means either the person is a mischief maker or totally ignorant of the entire game.
How would Tinubu reject Kwankwaso because of Ganduje when the same Tinubu ignored Ganduje and still went ahead to invite Kwankwaso to France? You should first ask yourself who is looking for whom and at what cost.
“The crux of the matter is that Kwankwaso, at the late hours, expressed his kind rejection of the appointment for obvious reasons.
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Kwankwaso understands the need to be extra careful with Tinubu, who knows and understands political mathematics so well.
Whether you like it or not, Kwankwaso has built a strong political landscape in the most populous state in the country.“
