By Ken Afor
The national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has said that his predecessor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso will remain a professional failure.
Ganduje said this on Thursday at the national secretariat of the APC in Abuja, when he received Bauchi State New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) governorship candidate in the 2023 election, Sen. Haliru Jika, who returned to the APC.
While commending Jika for taking a bold step to return to the APC, Ganduje confessed that the NNPP was once a formidable party but since it was hijacked by Kwankwaso’s group – Kwankwasiyya, the once vibrant party in the north was redundant for eight years before it found its way back to mainstream politics in the region particularly in Kano State.
He said: “When I got the news that you were coming to see me in my house to discuss the way forward, I knew I was meeting a very formidable politician in the person of Senator Jika who is a household name in Bauchi State.
“He is returning to a party that is very progressive and focused when we look at where he is coming from. He is coming from a party that used to be a decent party and highly respected but was later hijacked and polluted by the Kwankwasiyya group.
“We are happy that the original NNPP is taking back its proper position and leaving the Kwankwasiyya group deserted and thrown out completely.
“The Kwankwasiyya group, headed by the former Kano State governor, was forced to go into a sabbatical for eight years before it found its way back to Government House in Kano.”
Ganduje who was a loyalist and a former deputy to Kwankwaso between 2011 and 2015 said his former principal specializes in deceiving people.
The former governor of Kano State while recounting Kwankwaso’s endless journey to become president said the head of the Kwankwasiyya group will remain a failure because he has never remained in one political party since he left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Further according to Ganduje, “The Kwankwasiyya head, who wears a red cap, is the person who prefers to be a king in hell than be a servant in paradise. He specializes in deceiving people. He was first in PDP and came back to APC when it was formed. That was when the PDP merged with the legacy parties to form the APC.
“Instead of staying in APC, but because of his ambition, he decided to leave APC after failing to pick the presidential ticket to go back to the PDP. He could not stay there as he failed to pick up the ticket.
“He still went on his own to contest the presidential poll and was defeated twice. He is a professional contestant for presidential elections and would remain a professional failure. He loves himself so much. I am happy you have dumped the red cap. It is a very sensible action you have taken.”
However, Jika who spoke to the press said his return to the APC from the NNPP has nothing to do with Kwankwaso but the interest of Bauchi State.
He said, “My dumping NNPP for APC has nothing to do with the presidential candidate of NNPP. I have no issue with Kwankwaso. The interest of Bauchi State informed my return to APC.”
After his eight years tenure with the PDP, Kwankwaso joined the APC in 2014 in the wake of the 2015 general election. After failing to secure the party’s ticket he returned to the PDP in 2018 for another round of presidential primary which he failed to secure.
The 66-year-old lost in the February 25 presidential election on the platform of the NNPP.
