In what appears to be an unprecedented twist in the politics of Kano State, two former governors and erstwhile political archrivals in the state, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso and Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, met at the weekend in Abuja.
We gathered that the meeting, which was the first since Kwankwaso’s defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) recently, was to bury their differences and form a formidable team that would mobilise the electorate in the state against President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Abdullahi Ganduje ahead of 2019 elections.
It was also gathered that it was the first formal meeting of the former political opponents in 15 years when Kwankwaso paid a congratulatory visit to Shekarau for defeating him in the 2003 governorship election.
According to impeccable sources, the brief meeting took place at Shekarau’s Asokoro residence in Abuja on Saturday night.
Although the two Kano political gladiators held the meeting behind closed-doors, an excited Shekarau who was heard telling his visitor “no hard feelings, and I don’t bear any grudge,” at the end of the meeting.
In reply, Kwankwaso also said he did not bear malice against him, promising his commitment and collaboration towards the success of the party.
Following Kwankwaso’s defection to the PDP last week, the senator has been extending olive branch to politicians in the PDP towards realigning the party structure at the state level.
It was reliably gathered that the party leaders at the national level had favoured Kwankwaso to have 51 per cent stake in the party structure, having joined the party alongside nine members of the House of Representatives.
“The party leaders know the political weight of the senator. Aside his being a serving senator, he currently has a serving deputy governor, nine serving members of the House of Representatives and six serving members of the state House of Assembly in his political kitty.
“Essentially, he is the most powerful force in the state today. This is what the party at the national level considered to cede the control to him,” said a source familiar with the equations.
