Certain explanations have been given as to why Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) did not make President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s ministerial list.
Speaking on the issue, Bala Ibrahim, the director of publicity for the All Progressives Congress (APC), has claimed that the omission of Kwankwaso from the list could have been caused by the frequent attacks on former Governor Abdullahi Ganduje by his predecessor, Abba Yusuf, of the NNPP.
“Kwankwaso is a force to reckon with in the politics of Kano. But the way and manner his Kwankwasiyya movement goes about conducting itself has made the support for Kwankwaso to wane gradually. This is because of the brigandage the movement is bringing into the politics of Kano, and by extension, Nigeria,” Ibrahim told Punch.
“The President must have felt the pulse of the public and weighed the relevance and implementation of his policies, particularly his effort to win the hearts of Kano people. There is no way you will dismiss the political maturity, sagacity and experience of Dr Abdullahi Ganduje when it comes to the way he plays politics in Kano.
“If you weigh the two on a good calibrated scale, the political weight of Ganduje is by far higher than that of Kwankwaso. I believe the President must have listened to people who will give him honest and sincere advice, people who read the political temperature of the state very well, not those who are misguided by the hullabaloo of commotion caused by the brigandage of the Kwankwasiyya movement. It is that direction I think the President took the decision not to treat Ganduje lightly,” he added.
