Former Kano State Governor and serving Senator, Ibrahim Shekarau, has alleged that his defection from the New Nigeria People’s Party to the People’s Democratic Party was due to the breach of agreement, manipulation and betrayal by the NNPP presidential candidate, Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.
Senator Shekarau made the allegation on Thursday while featuring on the Channels TV programme, Politics Today.
The Senator described the governor’s actions as betrayal and outright disregard, outright manipulation, noting that what was important was the protection of his image, the truth and integrity.
He said, “We joined the party on the 18th of May. Long before then, almost two weeks earlier on, through my discussion with him, we made our proposals. At that time, it was the period of generating candidates of the various political offices to be contested in the 2023 general elections – state assembly, national assembly, governorship and senatorial seats.
“We sat down with Rabiu Kwankwaso. I submitted this proposal, he accepted it and he said in about one or two, three days, he’s going to prepare his proposal. And then I together with him will sit down to sort ourselves out and harmonise and see what we can do to produce electable people in our various constituencies.”
The Former Education Minister also revealed that the governor had presented him a senatorial form upon his defection to the party from the APC. He however challenged the governor when the party leadership had released what he considered an incomplete list of candidate names.
Shekarau added, “This hope and trust and sincerity kept us moving up to the 18th of May where we had a public declaration and Kwankwaso came with all his own political associates it was a very big ceremony.
“It was at that meeting that he brought the senatorial seat of Kano central form, and presented it to me. He said I was the first to receive the form. At that time as at 18th of May, no other candidate had been identified or listed or given form through the various discussion that we agreed to make.
“The same 18th of May by the night, midnight, we saw a list released by the Northern party leadership in The state, handwritten list of candidates by their constituencies and indicating as having solved the entire constituencies’ candidate.
“In fact, in the list released on the 18th by the night, even some constituencies had no name. The following morning I met him and I challenged the list released, we said this is unacceptable because in the entire list, except my name, no any other name from our own movement from our own political association was reflected on the list”.
Following his displeasure over the list, he said they had agreed to set up a nine-man committee, made up of four men each from each of the former governors’ camps and the party’s state chairman to harmonize the lists and fix the deficiencies. This assignment would eventually drag for three months until the closing date set by the Independent National Electoral Commission closed.
Shekarau said, “We convened a meeting, I had to call a meeting of my political associates, to brief them as to what we went through for three months.
“And we set up a committee of 30 to go and review the situation, we still did not make it public.
“But to our surprise, few days later, my brother Rabiu Kwankwaso was on air on the Hausa service of the BBC, saying that there was no way we could be attended to, because we joined the party when it was too late.
“That is the least you can call it — betrayal, outright disregard, outright manipulation,” he said.
“Our guiding principle, which is known to all my political associates, is the protection of our image and integrity, and you can’t have your integrity protected if there is not going to be sincerity and if there is not going to be trust and truth.”
Asked if he was promised anything by the PDP, the senator said he did not join the party because of personal interests, adding that the PDP promised to be fair to his associates.
“There was not any promise or assurances except the assurances of being fair, sincere and trustworthy with the associates that we have,” he said.
“That is what we are looking for anywhere we move, Two things are our guiding principles — what kind of people are you interacting with and what kind of interaction are you promoting. Through our interactions with the PDP, we were satisfied.”
Reacting to the allegation of not being consistent as it was said to have been moved from PDP to APC to NNPP and back to PDP within a space of five years.
Shekarau faulted those who criticized his defections as a sign of political indiscipline.
“If it had been my character to do all that because of my personal interests – ask any average man in Kano; the people would not have been coming along with us if it was something selfish or for personal interests,” Shekarau said.
“Anytime we leave, we have a structure from the unit to the ward to the local government, to the state.
“Our politics has been a politics of consultation, very wide consultation. There was no decision that I have taken politically without taking a referendum across the states.”
Shekarau, a former Minister of Education, said he joined the PDP because it is not a one-man party and not because he had been promised any political position.
He also promised that the PDP would win Kano state in next year’s presidential elections.
“The people of Kano trust us,” and I assure you by God’s grace, PDP will clear the votes in Kano, if not all but the majority. Because I know what people want.”
He also promised that as a leader and unifier,he would make sure that he settle the lingering crisis between the Governor of Rivers State,Nyesom Wike and the presidential candidate of the party,Atiku Abubakar.