Ministerial Nominee: Ganduje Speaks On Kwankwaso Decamping To APC

The immediate past Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has wished that his former boss, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, decamp to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Ganduje, who spoke during a chat with some media organizations in Kano yesterday, said it was ripe for Kwankwaso to return to APC now that he is in charge of the party affairs.

Naija News reports that the APC named Ganduje as the new National Chairman of the party last week.

His election was confirmed at the 12th APC National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held last Thursday at the Congress Hall of Transcorp Hilton in Abuja.

Speaking, however, during the media chat yesterday, Ganduje said, “Nobody will say Kwankwaso is not a good politician, at least he was a two-term Kano Governor, although, in disrupted tenures, he was Minister of Defence, even though he doesn’t know what defence is, and was once a Senator, even though he never said anything throughout his stay there.

“But, if he is willing to decamp to APC, our door is open, especially now that someone from his state is the party Chairman. It will be easier for him to lobby.”

When asked why Kwankwaso’s name was missing from President Bola Tinubu’s ministerial nominees, Ganduje said the appointment issue was first heard from Kwankwaso himself and not Tinubu.

He said: “It is true that President Tinubu has promised to run a unity government, and he stood by his words. Nyesom Wike, from PDP, is now a Minister nominee. But he [Kwankwaso] is the one who said he would be given appointment initially, and not the President himself.”

Recall that Ganduje was two terms Deputy when Kwankwaso was Kano Governor from 1999-2003 and between 2011-2015.

Also, Kwankwaso was the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in the 2023 general election.