From Maduabuchi Nmeribeh, Kano
Kano state Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje on Wednesday night announced the total collapse of the Kwankwassiyya Political Movement in Kano, describing its surviving leader, Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso as a “political ingrate, self-centred and egocentric.”
Ganduje who welcomed former Secretary to the State Government (SSG) and chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Engr. Rabi’u Suleiman Bichi to the All Progressive Congress (APC), also recounted his bitter political experience with Kwankwaso.
Ganduje said patience and endurance scaled him through during his trying times with Kwankwaso, adding that Kwankwaso’s tall dream of becoming Nigeria’s president pitched him against many politicians and his followers who he cared less about.
According to Ganduje, the homecoming of Rabi’u Bichi drove the final knell into the coffin of Kwankwassiyya, recalling that it was him and the former SSG that actually created the Kwankwassiyya Ideology.
Ganduje spoke at Ante Chamber, Government House, while addressing Bichi and his supporters who surrendered their red caps, signifying their final divorce from the Kwankwassiyya Movement.
According to him, “I am the encyclopaedia of Kwankwaso. Nobody knows Kwankwaso better than me. I taught him politics even before 1999. As many of you are aware, I won the PDP primaries in 1999. Something happened and I was pacified to become his running mate.
” I invested my time and resources to mobilize for him in 1999. I stood by him all through even when we lost election in 2003. But could you believe that when I was campaigning gorbmy election in 2015, Kwankwaso never attended any of my rallies. He never supported me me with a dime. There was no support of any nature from him.”
He further stated that, “my political relationship with Kwankwaso dated back to the military era. Right from time, I was always loyal to him. But I must confess that in all my life, I have never come across a self-centered politician like Kwnakwaso.
” He has the antecedent of imposing himself above the interest of other people. It is Jim and for him alone.”
According to him, “it was I and Rabi’u Suleiman Bichi that formed the Kwankwassiyya which has eventually collapsed today with this re-union with Rabi’u Bichi. Today, we have removed the heart beat of Kwankwassiyya.
” This is a happy day and a happy moment for me, because once again, I am in the midst of my political associates who we have been together for a very long time. I am used to them, and they are used to me.”
Ganduje, however, called on the opposition to join hands with him to further develop the state, adding that his ambition is to ensure that democratic dividends is delivered to all the nooks and crannies of the state.
Speaking during the occasion, the former chairman of PDP, Suleiman Bichi, described Ganduje as a patient, forthright and accommodating politician whose major concern is the development of Kano state and the welfare of the people.
He added that, “we need a polity where progress and development of the state is above personal and primordial interest. So, we have to cut that trend of unnecessary opposition so as to put the state on the right track of development obtainable in Lagos state.
” Your Excellency, all of us you see here joining the APC have decided, after due vinsuktations, to join in the development of the state. Almost everyone that was in the Kwankwassiyya camp is with us here, and we are readyb to give you our full support to move the state forward.
“Among us here are former Commissioners, former Advisers, and many others who have in one way or the other contributed to the development of the state. You many of us for a every long time. We have at one point or the other worked with you. If we continue along the part of progressive governance, Kano will surely be ahead of other states in the country.”
Bichi added that their decision to join APC was unanimously taken to answer Governor Ganduje’s call and invitation to opposition parties and politicians, to come and join hands with him in order to move the state to the Next Level.
“We believe in Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje’s genuine commitment in developing our dear state, that was why when he invited all other opposition elements to come and join hands with him in moving the state forward we have resolved to come forward and contribute in developing the state,” he said.
He emphasized that, “in my capacity as the former Chairman of the opposition PDP and leader of Kwankwasiyya political group, we are today answering the call of President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Abdullahi Ganduje for an all-inclusive government.
“The infrastructural development we are seeing all over the state, other human-centred policies like free and compulsory primary and secondary education are some of the major reasons that informed our decision to come forward Your Excellency.”
He recalled that, “myself and His Excellency, Governor Ganduje, were the brains behind the formation and nurturing of Kwankwasiyya group within the larger PDP family then.
“We built it up and we used our intellect to make it what it is today. So when we abandoned that, it is a clear indication that there is something fundamentally wrong with it. Other followers, who are yet to grasp the reality should take serious note. Former Governor Kwankwaso has derailed completely.”
Among those who joined the APC with Bichi are Hajia Binta Spikin who was the official spokesperson of Kwnakwaso, Hajia Aisha Kaita, former Zonal Women Leader of PDP, Mohammed Ishyaku Tarauni who was a former member of state House of Assembly, Dr. Idris Bala, a prominent Kwankwassiyya leader, among other hundreds of thousands of Bichi supporters.
Also present during the Bichi reception include the APC state party chairman, Abdullahi Abbas, Arc. Aminu Dabo, General (Idris Bello Dambazau (rtd), Nasiru Aliko Koki, former National Treasurer of APC, Bala Gwagwarwa, Comrade Tijjani Dambazau, who was the state leader of the Youth Wing of Kwankwasiyya Movement in the state.
