Barau, Ganduje, Others Intensify Moves To Unseat NNPP in Kano.

Top figures of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano State have reaffirmed their commitment to mobilising widespread backing for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election.

Among the prominent figures — former APC National Chairman Umar Ganduje, Deputy Senate President Jibrin Barau, Senator Kabiru Gaya, and former Secretary to the State Government Suleiman Bichi — declared their determination to wrestle the governorship position back from the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).

These party heavyweights gathered at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja and emphasised that President Tinubu had not let down the ruling party, Kano State, or the country at large.

The strategy session, which lasted for two hours, was also attended by the Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, Abubakar Kabiru Abubakar, Kano APC Chairman Idris Abubakar, Senator Kawu Sulaiman, Senator Bashir Lado, and several lawmakers from both state and federal levels.

Ganduje informed the press that the meeting was convened to evaluate the party’s current position in Kano and reiterate support for the President’s second-term ambition.

He stated that the event demonstrated the unity within the party and its readiness to regain Kano from the NNPP.

Ganduje emphasised: “We are here to examine the progress, the successes that we have achieved in our great party in Kano State. We are also here to assure Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, that our party in Kano State is solidly behind him.

“We appreciate his policy reforms. We appreciate the good work that he is doing for the country. We appreciate the good work he is doing for Kano State. And we appreciate all the appointments that he has made from Kano State.”

Ganduje, who once served as Governor of Kano State, stated that although the APC narrowly lost the 2023 election in the state, the party remains strong and is attracting fresh supporters due to the people-focused policies of President Tinubu over the past two and a half years.

He explained: “Our party has remained solid. And because of the good policies of Mr. President, and also because of our political dexterity in the state, we are able to attract many important politicians from other political parties that have come into our own party.

“In particular, Senator Kawu joined the party. We have members of the House of Representatives. We have the former Speaker of Kano State, Hon. Kabiru Ruru, who has joined our party. We have Hon. Abdullahi Saini Rogo, who has joined our party.

“We have many members of the House of Assembly who have joined our party. We have former secretary to the present government in Kano State who have left the party, NNPP, and have joined our party. We have some commissioners who left the present government and now they have joined our party.

“We have resolved that we will continue to work very hard to ensure that we succeed in the next governorship election in Kano State.”

In agreement with Ganduje’s remarks, Barau noted that after a comprehensive analysis of political developments in Kano and across the nation, the leaders concurred that President Tinubu’s government has greatly benefited not only the state but also Northern Nigeria.

He said: “We have invited critical stakeholders in order to examine the state of our state in terms of our party and the nation at large. We are able to discover the fact that the President and Commander-in-Chief, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has done very well for our state and indeed, the entire nation.

“We discovered several projects that have been implemented. Others are ongoing in our state and indeed, the entire northern part of this country. We also discovered that so many people have been appointed to various offices in our state and indeed, the entire nation, the entire northern part of Nigeria.

“We also understand the fact that our party is now growing from strength to strength because of several interventions made by Mr. President towards alleviating the sufferings of our people.”

Barau further said: “We are solely behind him, just as the former National Chairman said. We are behind him. We are solidly behind him because he loves us. We have never asked for anything from him that he has not done for us. He has established several things for us, several institutions of higher learning, several development projects, and so on and so forth.

“We are behind him and we have urged our people, our party, faithful, that everybody, all the strategic stakeholders that are here, that they should go back home and continue to support, to tell their people to continue to support Mr. President, to continue to support APC and to continue to pray for our nation, to continue to pray for our president so that he will achieve his aim of bringing prosperity to our nation.”

Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, Abubakar, disclosed that the stakeholders had agreed to surpass the 600,000 votes secured in 2023 for President Tinubu come 2027.

Outlining the President’s major achievements in Kano, he stated: “We note that the President has done extremely well in Kano State in terms of critical projects such as roads. The road from Abuja – Kaduna – Zaria – Kano is almost completed. Kano, Maiduguri Sections 1, 2, 3, and 4 almost completed. Kano/Katsina project is almost completed.

“In the next one to two months, Mr. President will come to Kano to lay foundation for the light rail project in Kano State. That project will cost more than one billion US dollars and of course, it is going to be one of the most important projects in Northern Nigeria.”

He added: “So, for someone to say, Mr. President is not interested in the North or in Kano State is all politics. Kano State in 2027 will come all out and vote the President and the APC governor, Isha Allah, as well as senators in the three central districts and members of the House of Representatives.”