Finally, Kwankwasiyya Movement Crumble In Kano Political Space

By Abba Dukawa 

Rabiu Musa  Kwankwaso does not want any other person to shine. I know Kwankwaso more than any other person. He is a kind of person that knows everything, knows better than any other person and self-centred. Whatever this man asks you to do or to pursue will be for his own benefit, not yours. “I know all his political tricks, deceptiveness and doggedness but I endured him for all the years we were together. He will never appreciate you for whatever you did to him, be it big or small. When we contested election in 1999, ‘Wallahi’, I was his boss because I paid for his political posters and mobilised people for him from all the 44 local governments of Kano State. In fact, Kwankwaso did not win the primary election in 1999, I won the election, but we were reconciled. Ganduje said

This was a testimonial statement from Abdullahi Ganduje, a close associate of Rabiu Kwankwaso of several decades and it is a proof of how many people see Rabiu Musa  Kwankwaso, as a self-centred person. Because whatever kadimul Islam said about Rabiu Musa  Kwankwaso any right-thinking person will not dispute it having closely worked together. Twice Abdullahi Ganduje was Rabiu Musa  Kwankwaso’s deputy.

The duo, however, drew the battle line shortly after the former handed over to the later on May 29, 2015. Where accusations and counter-accusations were traded. Kwankwaso’s alleged quest to control Kano government house from Abuja and Ganduje’s reported firm resistance to godfatherism, snowballed into a deep-rooted political rivalry, which made Kwankwaso to dump the APC and return to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) while vowing to ensure that Ganduje was voted out of Kano government house during the 2019 elections.

Initially, the two principal actors denied anything was amiss, but soon it became a macabre dance in the marketplace.

Ganduje versus Kwankwaso tussle of controlling Kano politics between the former governor and serving governor, the tussles reached its peak when Kwankwaso’s desire to frustrate Ganduje’s second-term ambition remains a mirage. Aside from his tussle with Ganduje, Kwankwaso had dumped the APC for PDP to pursue his presidential ambition and ultimately to create a platform and recruit a lieutenant, with whom to dislodge Ganduje from Kano government house.

Even at the peak of the tussle, Gov Ganduje remained focus on delivering democracy dividends to Kano people and has not only kept faith to his promise of continuing the projects and policies of his predecessor, but he had also moved on to conceptualize and consolidate on his own projects and policies.

While Kwankwaso was deluded by his rise to political limelight and his rabid followers do not help matters as they spun myth around him that he wears shoes made of metal and he could tread on the toes of all – the mighty and the not-so-mighty.

He was even presumed to be an undefeatable leader: he can do and undo, he can make or mar, he can give power to whomsoever he wishes and wrest power from whomsoever he wishes.

Kwankwasiyya has now crumbled like a pack of cards and the domino effect will extend to remaining supporters of Kwankwaso

Out of his weakness tricks aimed at making Ganduje’s administration a failure, was over N350 Billion debt left behind by his administration.

Debt cuts across contracts for uncompleted flyovers, roads, and the controversial foreign and local scholarship scheme, which amount to over N15 billion. This is not to count the ordinary citizens, civil servants and pensioners who suffered varied indignity during his second tenure between 2011 and 2015.

Madugu borrowed  N4.161 billion from the pension fund to build Bandirawo and Amana Housing Estates and  Ganduje’s government is still paying the debt.

As it could be power intoxication that pushed Sen. Rabiu Kwankwaso to dare Governor Abdullahi Ganduje,  Maybe, power intoxicates.

And it appears since then, he has lost his bearing after a sip. Indeed, he has a high appetite to remain perpetually in power, by proxy or otherwise. Many wish to witness this day where Madugu loses out in the tussle for supremacy of Kano politics.

Still, Kwankwasiyya supporters counting the loss of heavyweights backers of the movement as Rabiu Sulaiman Bichi and others have demonstrated their resolve in freeing themselves from the bondage of Kwankwasiyya.

Rabiu Sulaiman Bichi is undisputable closet allay of Rabiu Musa  Kwankwaso.

When Madugu left APC  and joined other Senators headed by Senate President Bukola Saraki back PDP, Bichi followed him and became Kano state PDP chairman in the state until he accepted the offer of hands of friendship extended to them by Governor Umar Ganduje after Apex court ruling which affirmed his election.

With Rabiu Sulaiman Bichi defection to APC is just like moving back to the fold of his  20 years political associate .

These are the people that makes Kwankwasiyya  political dynasty to reach its peak.

It seems like Kwankwasiyya has reached the final stage of its active life circle. Political observers believe that Senator Kwankwaso takes his political associate of over 20 years for granted and allows himself to think he can do and undo, he can make or mar, he can decide what best for them.

Kwankwaso’s recent interview which was aired by many radio stations in kano and which was believed to be a response to Ganduje’s outburst while receiving the former PDP chairman and a leader of Kwankwasiyya movement, Rabiu Bichi and other members at Government House exhibit this.

In the interview, he tried to identify himself as a defender of the traditional institution while many will not easily forget when he led the state between 2011 and 2015. The same traditional institution was not spared from his vituperation, disrespect and more painful is the fact that his blind followers see nothing wrong in what he did.

The business community in the state bear the brunt of Kwankwaso’s mischief as his policies while at the helm of affairs retarded commercial activities rather than promoting commerce for which Kano is well-known for since time immemorial. But funnily now, Madugu turns defender of the traditional institution.

It is now indisputable that Ganduje is in total control of the state political sphere as the 2019 gubernatorial and rerun elections have shown that the strong political base of Kwankwaso as majorly constituted by the youth is nothing but a shaky foundation on which the house of Kwankwasiyya has been built.

Dukawa is a Kano-based journalist and a public affairs commentator that can be reached at abumahud@gmail.com.