Kwankwasiyya is set on destabilising Ganduje’s administration – Dan-Azumi Gwarzo

Being a close associate of Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, what do you think is the root cause of their feud?
The political crisis between Ganduje and Kwankwaso is unfortunate for them, their followers, the All Progressives Congress (APC), and indeed, Kano State as a whole. Those who do not know the two politicians very well would think that the relationship between them started in 1999, but people that are very close to them know that they have been together for a very long time. I can remember very well that it was Kwankwaso that introduced me to Ganduje when the latter was the commissioner for works.

 After the return of democracy, the two contested primary elections on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but as God would have it, Ganduje could not win. He supported Kwankwaso after he emerged the party’s flag-bearer. Ganduje was picked as his running mate, and he remained loyal till the end of their tenure (1999-2003). When they lost the second term bid, Kwankwaso was appointed minister of defence and he carried Ganduje along.
After the two tenures of Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, Kwankwaso contested again, with Ganduje as deputy. I think what earned Ganduje all these was total loyalty.
In 2015, the mantle of leadership returned to Ganduje as governor. I think Ganduje deserves respect.
The issue of leadership and relevance is what prompted the crisis between the two politicians. But let me say that it is their followers that ignited the feud, making it a big issue. Another unfortunate thing is that each side has fundamental followers - those who are very critical and those who are extremists in their loyalty, to the extent that they could do everything to satisfy their own interests. These people are responsible for taking this minor crisis to where it is today.
 If they had exercised restraint when Kwankwaso visited Ganduje over the death of his mother, this crisis would have been averted. If Kwankwaso was accused of humiliating, harassing and abusing Ganduje, as well as faulting him for not embracing Kwankwasiyya, I don’t see any reason why there should not be a little apology, even if it is from one of his aides. The Kwankwasiyya group should come publicly and say that they did not ask their boys to cause trouble. I am sure that such action would have solved the problem.  But Kwankwaso and his followers kept quiet. And you know that keeping quiet is admission. For not doing that, today the crisis is going out of control.
Basically, you should not have two kings in a society. Let everybody respect Ganduje as governor and let Kwankwaso be seen as a senator. If each of them can stay where he belong, I am sure the crisis will be over. But there are so many people around the two politicians that are benefiting from the crisis, and because of that, nobody is willing to advise his boss on how to end it. Instead, each side is attacking the other for no reason.
Recently, one of Kwankwaso’s aides, Comrade Aminu Abdulsalam was quoted as saying so many things in an interview against Governor Ganduje, while trying to satisfy his ambition. In my view, if they truly participated in making the Ganduje-led administration, why should they now participate in destroying the same government? I think somebody is trying to be relevant.

Abdulsalam also accused Ganduje’s followers of igniting the crisis. What is your take on this?
I don’t think so. This is because I have been following the trend very carefully. You see, Ganduje is the governor now and he deserves respect as a leader. Of course, as a former governor and leader, Kwankwaso also deserves a level of respect.
Taking a look at what caused the rift, I don’t know if there are other things we cannot see. Ganduje is trying to complete the projects started by Kwankwaso. Take a look at the Murtala Muhammad flyover and so many uncompleted projects left behind by Kwankwaso. Projects started by Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau are being completed by Ganduje. If that is the case, why should Kwankwaso’s followers accuse Ganduje of not embracing the ideology of Kwankwasiyya? Why the confusion? I cannot understand what the Kwankwasiyya people want from Ganduje.

Governor Ganduje was also accused of polarizing the APC in Kano. How would you react to this accusation?
Although there is nothing wrong in forming a group to achieve an aim because it is allowed in the constitution, sincerely speaking, after winning the election, Kwankwaso should have dismantled the Kwankwasiyya movement because he was elected the governor of the entire state. He performed ablution and swore by the Holy Qur’an that he would be just and fair to all. Unfortunately, after winning the election, Kwankwaso decided to do things based on the ideologies of the movement. For instance, if you did not wear their red cap you would be nobody in the government; if you didn’t pronounce the slogan of Kwakwasiyya, you would be irrelevant in the government, and; if you didn’t toe the line of Kwankwasiyya you would be left behind and nobody would recognize you. In other words, all those who did the contrary were marginalised. I am one of the victims of this movement.
When Ganduje took over the mantle of leadership, he started harmonising the real component of the merger. The component of the merger is that all the parties that surrendered their certificates - the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) - should be carried along. Unfortunately, Kwankwaso didn’t come as a member of the PDP. He said the Kwankwasiyya movement was better than any political party. He took advantage of the constitution of the APC, which stated that whoever joined the party as head of government in a state should be the leader. That’s why he snatched the leadership of the party in Kano and made use of it to his advantage. Subsequently, he emerged victorious in the 2015 general elections. 
What Ganduje is doing today, to the amazement of everyone, is bringing all stakeholders on board. Alhaji Usman Alhaji, who was appointed the Secretary to the State Government, is from the defunct CPC, while Alhaji Ibrahim Kankarofi of the defunct ANPP was appointed the principal private secretary to the governor. So there is no discrimination, as far as I am concerned.
What is happening today is that Kwankwasiyya is trying to destabilise the Ganduje-led administration, thereby creating confusion in the minds of people.

What is the way out?
The way out is for both sides to exercise restraint. Those making inflammatory statements should be asked to stop.   The APC has a long way to go because there are challenges it needs to tackle. On their part, the media should try to help instead of aggravate the situation. If that is done, the stakeholders can come in and resolve the crisis once and for all. But with the way the crisis is going, anything can happen. Our labour should not be allowed to be in vain. People have worked tirelessly to make this government and they should not be disappointed. The two giants should try to look at the issue and resolve the crisis. There should be a ceasefire between the two groups. But honestly, the Kwankwasiyya group should reconsider so many things, the issue of attacks and counter-attacks should cease, so that we would have peace.

In the past, attempts were made to reconcile both politicians, but it appears that such efforts did not yield any positive result. Why is this so?
Yes, but there is always a solution to any problem if the right approach is taken. What happened during that briefing in Abuja was an attempt, but I think it has not been followed up through implementation. It is not impossible. It is high time the APC national body intervened.  If they do that it would be good.

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