Following the defection of the former governor of Kano State, Mr. Rabiu Kwankwaso, from All Progressives Congress (APC) to People’s Democratic Party (PDP), his spokesperson, Ms. Binta Spikin, has said that President Muhammadu Buhari will not win in Kano State in 2019 general election.
She said this while reacting to Transportation Minister, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi’s comment on Mr. Buhari’s chances. Amaechi had on Friday said Buhari would win in Sokoto, Kano and Bauchi States in 2019 general elections even if he was taken to the states “on a sick bed”.
Amaechi also said governors of Sokoto and Kwara states, Messers Aminu Tambuwal and Abdulfatah Ahmed, would leave APC.
“On those that defected at House of Representatives and Senate, where do they come from? They come from areas that the President is comfortable. Do you honestly believe that the President will lose the election in Sokoto? We are not God, but it’s one of his comfort zones,” the minister was quoted as saying. Amaechi heads Buhari’s 2019 campaign organization.
“If you bring the President on a sick bed to Bauchi and Kano, he will win and he has never lost the election in Bauchi. But that is a bit arrogant on our side; we should not underestimate them,” he said.
In her response, Spikin said Mr. Kwankwaso’s defection will not only affect the votes in Kano State but has brought down APC.
“I think his defection will greatly affect the votes in 2019. His defection will not only affect the chances of APC in Kano, his defection has brought down APC.
“If you look across Nigeria today, not Kano alone, there’s nowhere in Nigeria that you don’t have the presence of Kwankwasiyya (supporters of Kwankwaso).
“Kano is his home base and he is well grounded in Kano. Even without the government, he had a 60 percent of the voters, so what do you think will happen now that he has joined forces with people like Mr Ibrahim Shekarau?” she said.
She further said the government needs to know that there is a path that is blocked “even if you fight it.”
“Even if the government puts whatever in place, there is no way Buhari will win in Kano, there’s no way.”
When asked if Kwankwaso stands a chance of winning the 2019 general election should he officially declare his ambition to run for the presidency, she simply said, “He stands a very good chance to defeat Buhari. We are covered.”
Kwankwaso was one of the 15 senators who defected from APC on Tuesday. In his reaction, governor of the state, Mr. Abdullahi Ganduje, had said the mass defection would not affect the party’s chances politically.
He also said Kwankwaso’s exit would not be felt in the state: “I want you to go and study the situation on the ground in Kano, his (Kwankwaso) defection does not change the political mood in the state. Nobody cares to be disturbed by their action,” Ganduje said.
Kwankwaso has been locked in a fierce political confrontation with Ganduje. Over the past two years, several attacks and reprisal attacks between the supporters of the two politicians have been reported. With Premium Times
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