Former governors of Kano State, Ibrahim Shekarau and Rabiu Kwankwaso have reached a pact ahead of the 2019 general elections.
DAILY POST understands that the two prominent figures deliberated a few times in recent months on modalities of working together.
Top on their agenda is taking over the Government House from incumbent governor, Abdullahi Ganduje.
Ganduje was Kwankwaso’s deputy for eight years (1999-2003 and 2011 to 2015) but the two fell apart shortly after the 2015 election.
Kwankwaso, who represents Kano Central Senatorial District, was one of the Senators who dumped the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday.
Prior to his defection, a source told DAILY POST that the lawmaker and Shekarau agreed on how to oust APC in Kano.
He said due to Kwankwaso‘s political strength and popularity, Shekarau said he would concede the state PDP structure to him once he dumped the APC.
“Kwankwaso is the strongest Kano politician today. The two leaders have agreed to jointly lead and fund the state party exco.
“A major highlight of their agreement is that Kwankwaso will nominate a governorship candidate while Shekarau will nominate the deputy”, the source added.
But the shocker is that Kwankwaso is considering Kano deputy governor, Hafiz Abubakar for the PDP ticket.
The academic and Professor of Nutrition is expected to announce his defection to the PDP anytime soon.
In 2014, Kwankwaso tapped him from the Bayero University Kano to run with Ganduje.
In December 2017, a confirmation that all was not well with Ganduje and Abubakar emerged via a leaked tape. The deputy governor complained he had been axed out of prominence in the APC.
“When they were campaigning for election, my picture was juxtaposed with the governor (Ganduje), president (Muhammadu Buhari) and our leader Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso,” he said.
“But today at my birthplace, my picture was replaced with somebody else’s picture. What have I done to my birthplace? I do not deserve this even as a university lecturer at Bayero University, where I hope to return in 2019 at the expiration of my tenure.
“I will not be part of a system whereby the leadership of my party, APC, would be formed at my Mandawari ward, my birthplace, and my blood brother was removed without anyone consulting with me.
“I did not bring myself here. I was engrossed in my academic activities when I was picked as the deputy governorship candidate. God that chose me is not sleeping. Whether I am in the university, God knows the best. I pray to him to choose the best for me,” Abubakar had said.
Kwankwaso, a Minister of Defence during the Olusegun Obasanjo administration, joined the APC with other aggrieved PDP governors on November 23 2013.
Two months later (January 29 2014), Shekarau joined the Goodluck Jonathan government and was later appointed Minister of Education.
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