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Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, the Vice-Presidential Candidate of the National Democratic Congress for the 2027 election, has claimed that former governors Ibrahim Shekarau and Abdullahi Ganduje, along with current Governor Abba Yusuf, are politically finished in Kano State.
Kwankwaso made these comments while discussing the political fate of some former members of his political group who have fallen out with him.
In an interview on the News Agency of Nigeria Personality Interview Series on Sunday in Abuja, he said that any political success achieved through “treachery” is not sustainable.
The former governor of Kano State said his experience over the last two and a half decades shows that those who betray their political allies often end up in political oblivion.
“You cannot succeed with treachery. I have not seen one. Now we have taken about two and a half decades.
“If I ask you, I’m sure you don’t know; he is going into oblivion politically. He is nowhere,” Kwankwaso said, referring to one of his former political friends.
He pointed out Ganduje, who was his deputy for eight years before becoming governor in 2015, and noted his declining political fortunes.
According to Kwankwaso, Ganduje’s political journey would have been better if he had stuck with the political structure they built together. He described Ganduje’s current situation as a result of his choice to break away from him.
“If you can even see the issue of Ganduje, who we came together and supported, and became governor free of charge. The day when he started fighting was the beginning of his problem. If I may ask: where is he now? It is difficult to see him,” he said.
Kwankwaso added that Ganduje could have earned more respect in Kano and beyond if he had remained loyal to their political group. He said the former governor is now facing serious political challenges.
He also took a swipe at Governor Abba Yusuf for allegedly abandoning those who helped him become governor.
Kwankwaso explained that he chose Yusuf as his preferred candidate partly to avoid a repeat of what he called Ganduje’s behavior.
“Abba Yusuf: we went down, right down, to make sure that we picked the right person who would not go and repeat what Ganduje had done.
“Members of my political group worked day and night to field Yusuf in the 2019 governorship election, which Yusuf won before the result was overturned through litigation,” he stated.
He claimed that the same political structure returned in 2023 and successfully got Yusuf elected as governor, despite attempts to use similar tactics against the party.
Kwankwaso, however, said Yusuf has since distanced himself from the political camp that helped him rise to power.
“He left us, but he is not with Ganduje now. He is in-between because I don’t think he is happy for anybody to call him Dan Gandujiyya,” he said.
He noted that Yusuf’s choice to associate himself publicly with Ganduje has created political problems for him.
Kwankwaso accused Yusuf of trying to replace him as the main political figure in Kano, despite his ongoing influence in the state.
“People have no patience and that is why they are making those mistakes. It is just a matter of patience,” he said.
The former governor said the fight for political power is not just in Kano, calling it a common feature of Nigerian politics.
He remembered a conversation with President Bola Tinubu, where the President asked him to settle some political disagreements with Ganduje.
Kwankwaso said he reminded Tinubu of several politicians who were once close to him but are no longer in his political circle.
He mentioned former Lagos State Deputy Governor Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele and former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode as examples.
“I told him that when I come here, I don’t see Bucknor. When I come here, I don’t see Ambode. I started counting the people,” he said.
Kwankwaso, who believes that political ties can be fleeting, added that political partners can drift apart even after working closely together.
He did, however, mention former Osun Governor, Chief Bisi Akande, as one of the few political associates he still considers a friend.
He said political relationships often resemble school friendships, where former classmates keep in touch despite going separate ways in their careers.
“It’s not very peculiar to Kano, but I think the Kano experience is special out of the general lots,” Kwankwaso said.
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