Tinubu begins moves for Kwankwaso, Ganduje reconciliation

President Bola Tinubu has kick-started moves to reconcile the national leader of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Rabiu Kwankwaso and the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje, ahead of his push for a second term in office in 2027, Daily Trust reliably gathered.

Multiple sources confirmed to Daily Trust on Monday that the president has communicated his intention to both leaders separately and has given them some time to inform their stakeholders of his intention, and return at a later date to finalise the reconciliation process.

President Tinubu met with Ganduje and some select APC stakeholders from Kano State last week Thursday, and met with Kwankwaso on Sunday, just as he plans to personally chair a reconciliation meeting where the two former governors of Kano State are expected to come with two persons each.

Sources close to Ganduje confirmed that the president had asked the APC leader to meet with APC stakeholders in Kano on Thursday, and commence the process of solidifying the unity of purpose amongst them.

It was reliably gathered that the president’s push for solidification of unity amongst the APC stakeholders in Kano in view of insinuations in the state’s chapter of the party that he (President Tinubu) did not “throw his weight” for a favourable ruling of the Supreme Court for the party’s candidate in the March 28, 2023 governorship election in the state, Dr. Yusuf Nasiru Gawuna.

“Contrary to what is trending that the president ordered the (national) chairman (Ganduje) to reconcile with Kwankwaso, the president never spoke specifically about Kwankwaso during the stakeholders’ meeting at the Presidential Villa, last week. During the meeting, the president praised Ganduje’s reconciliation skills in Ondo and Edo, and said he wants him to do similar things with Kano”, one of the sources at the meeting told Daily Trust in confidence.

The source added that it was during a private meeting between Tinubu and Ganduje that the president informed the APC leader of his intention to bring Kwankwaso into APC, and asked the latter to devise a strategy of realising this objective. As a first step towards achieving that goal, however, the president asked Ganduje to convene a meeting in Kano, in order to secure the buy-in of APC stakeholders in the state.

It was gathered further that while many of the APC stakeholders at the meeting in Abuja had their reservations about what the president was proposing, none could raise a dissenting voice.

“There was no room for that (dissenting voice). What happened was that the plan for the meeting with the president was to allow the chairman to do the opening remark and then yield the floor to Barau (Jibrin, the deputy Senate President) as well as (Alhassan Ado) Doguwa (member representing Doguwa/Tudunwada Federal Constituency of Kano State).

“But as the chairman was rounding off his speech, the president put on his microphone, signalling that he was ready to speak and he did not mince words in what he told them. First, he learnt that the members of the APC family in Kano were unhappy with the Supreme Court judgment that retained Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, and that many of the party faithful felt let down by him (the president) over this development,” the source said.

The president was then said to have appealed to the party’s leaders at the meeting to reach out to the Kano APC family in Kano and appease them, assuring that he (President Tinubu) played no role in the loss suffered by the party.

“The second thing the president said was that our chairman should use the reconciliation skills to effectively manage the Kano APC stakeholders, after which he should return to him for further consultation.

“Shockingly, the president never said anything about possible ‘compensation’ for Gawuna and Garo (the governorship candidate and his deputy) with some political appointments,” the source added.

Ganduje meets Kano stakeholders on Thursday

Reportedly, after last week’s meeting with the president, the APC stakeholders at the meeting and a few others in Abuja met and raised some concerns over the path the president appeared to them to be towing, that is, pushing for reconciliation with Kwankwaso.

According to the report, Ganduje was billed to hold a meeting with Kano APC stakeholders on Thursday in Kano. Sources familiar with the development in Kano said that the APC national chairman’s meeting with the state’s stakeholders was to be an expanded forum with the party’s stalwarts from across the 44 local government areas.

“Yes, the chairman is coming on Thursday. He will be meeting with the “Yan Biyar” from each of the 44 local government areas, and the main agenda is to appease them while also soliciting their continuous support for the president”, a close associate of Ganduje, who asked not to be named, said.

The “Yan Biyar” are the informal leaders of the party in each local government appointed by the APC national chairman. They are mostly five elderly party members that serve as the rallying point of the party in each local government.

Ganduje, as reported, actually visited and met with the APC stakeholders in the ancient city on Thursday January 24, 2024.

Tinubu’s meeting with Kwankwaso

Daily Trust’s report said that three days after his meeting with Ganduje and other APC stakeholders from Kano State, President Tinubu also met with Kwankwaso.

The meeting, which was held at the Villa on Sunday, was said to be at the instance of the president. Although it was not precisely clear what the meeting was about, sources close to the NNPP leader hinted that Kwankwaso was equally informed about the reconciliation moves.

A source familiar with the development told Daily Trust that the president hinted at his resolve to call a meeting at which the difference between Ganduje and Kwankwaso would be resolved.

“The president told him (Kwankwaso) to go and speak with his people just as he had asked Ganduje to do. The president then said both of them should return to him with two persons each for the meeting where the final decision on the reconciliation would be taken”, one of our sources said.

Reconciliation should be based on genuine intention – Doguwa

Efforts to get official reaction from the two top Kano NNPP and APC leaders were not successful up to the time of filing this report. However, Alhassan Ado Doguwa, the member representing Doguwa/Tudun wada Federal Constituency from Kano State, who is also the Chairman of the Northern Caucus of the House of Representatives, confirmed to Daily Trust that he was at the meeting of last Thursday with the president, saying that while not being averse to the reconciliation moves, he only hopes that the efforts would yield the desired objective.

“I was part of the meeting with Mr. President and Mr. President was simply suggesting that as one people from the same state (Kano), he recalled meeting all of us in the same group before the 2015 general elections, and that it will not be bad for us to come back together under one party. It was a suggestion, not a marching order. But when a leader suggests something, it’s as good and effective as an order.

“I don’t think I can oppose the reconciliation as a Muslim and with my knowledge of politics. We will be glad if reconciliation can be forged to push the state and party to greater heights. But I hope such reconciliation will be based on genuine intentions so that at the end, none of us will be taken for granted,” he said.

Doguwa added that what would augur well for all is for the terms to be accepted by all parties, and for there to be certain guidelines to be observed by those coming in and those already in the party.

No plan like that for now, but politics is unpredictable – NNPP chair

Also speaking with Daily Trust, Abba Kawu-Ali, the acting National Chairman of the NNPP said as far as the party is concerned, there is no plan to collapse its structure with that of APC, or for Kwankwaso to leave the party for the APC, but added that nothing can be hastily predicted in politics.

“As the chairman of the party, we don’t have any arrangement like that and I have not discussed it with my leader (Kwankwaso). But we are not enemies (with Ganduje and APC). We are politicians and we cannot predict tomorrow. But as of today (Monday), Kwankwaso does not have any plans like that. Also, the NNPP does not have any plan like that for now,” he said.

Kwankwaso and Ganduje, both former two-term governors of Kano State, have been at daggers drawn since they fell out after the 2015 general elections, where the former handed over power to the latter.

The rivalry, which became pronounced during the 2019 general elections, continued in the buildup as well as the aftermath of the 2023 general elections, especially after Governor Yusuf, Kwankwaso’s political godson, reversed several of Ganduje’s actions, including the demolition of several structures put in place by the immediate past governor.