Ganduje Expresses Worry Over Tinubu’s Romance With Kwankwaso
The meeting between President-elect Bola Tinubu and Rabiu Kwankwaso, presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) has continued to raise dust, especially among leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano.
It was reported how Tinubu and Kwankwaso met for four hours in France, discussing a wide range of issues, including the possibility of the NNPP Presidential Candidate joining the incoming cabinet.
Responding, Abdulmajid Kwamanda, an APC leader in Kano, said Tinubu must not give any appointment to Kwankwaso, not even that of a messenger.
“We in the North West do not welcome Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso to our party APC. We do not accept the idea of Bola Tinubu giving him any appointment even as low as a messenger in our dear party. Should Tinubu ignore our outcry and appoint Kwankwaso, we are going to disrupt the entire APC in the north and withdraw our support for him,” Kwamanda had told reporters.
Moments after Kwamanda spoke, the audio of phone call between Ganduje and Ibrahim Masari, a former placeholder vice presidential candidate of the APC, leaked.
In the audio, the governor was heard lamenting being treated unfairly by the president-elect in meeting with Kwankwaso.
The governor had started the conversation by saying there is noise all over Kano over the meeting between Tinubu and Kwankwaso.
Ganduje said even though Masari had told him of the possibility of such meeting, there was nothing he could have done about it.
“But at that time, you could have spoken with him (Tinubu). You can (sic) call him and talk to him,” Masari said.
The governor was then heard saying “what could I have told him? Now he (Tinubu) is seeing Kwankwaso as an alternative to us? No problem. Because we don’t have a government? And it’s even because of him (Tinubu) we lost the government in any way.
“Even if he will see him (Kwankwaso), he ought to have called us too. Or don’t you understand, even if symbolically.”
In the audio, Masari, an ally of Tinubu, was then heard pacifying Ganduje and urging him not to be angry over the development.
He asked the governor to remain calm until he visits Tinubu on Thursday and until they meet in Abuja.
“And all these things are from God. And the calculation that he is doing is not even accurate… And this man, how did he end up with Jonathan?” Ganduje said.
It was gathered that the governor left Kano for Abuja late Friday and will hopefully be meeting Masari over the weekend before the former would meet with the president-elect, who is due to return to the country any moment from now.
When contacted, Abba Anwar, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, said he had no authority to speak on the issue.
However, he never denied nor authenticated the veracity of the phone conversation.
Daily Trust investigative team subjected the audio to multiple verification processes, but there was no indication of manipulation.
However, PRNigeria exclusively gathered that Ganduje was consulted by Tinubu, before his meeting with Kwankwaso.
Also, Abdulmumin Jibrin, the first Director General of the Tinubu Presidential Campaign Management Council and a member-elect of the House of Representatives under the NNPP, who is a close ally of Kwankwaso and was part of the meeting, debunked Ganduje’s claim.
Jibrin told Politics Digest that Ganduje informed him of the matter before the Paris meeting.
Jibrin also confirmed to this newspaper that the governor told him that his only issue with Kwankwaso is how he always attacks him at every opportunity.
“They were friends for decade but I personally told the governor that he is guilty of same and they can sort things out themselves while promising to convey his message to Kwankwaso,” Jibrin said.
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