By Omeiza Ajayi

ABUJA: Some leaders of the All Progressives Congress APC in Kano state including the Minister of State, Housing and Urban Development, Yusuf Ata have rejected the planned defection of a former Governor of Kano state, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso from his New Nigeria Peoples Party NNPP into the APC.

Speaking shortly after a closed-door meeting with the APC National Chairman, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, who is himself a former Governor of Kano State, the minister said Kwankwaso’s red cap is gradually going extinct in Kano State.

He said unless the National Chairman, who is the leader of the party in Kano, takes a decision to accept him, Kwankwaso stands rejected.

Declaring support for the leadership of the Dr Ganduje-led APC both in Kano and at the national level, Ata appreciated President Bola Tinubu and assured him of a convincing victory in Kano in the next elections, saying the National Chairman has been working day and night to ensure a landslide.

He said; “Anybody who visits Kano State even today will see that there are a lot of changes. It is hard for you to find red caps in Kano. Before now, if you visit the mosque you will see many red caps but today you can visit a mosque and if 5000 people come for prayers, you cannot see 20 red caps in Kano.

“So we are assuring the President that we are not asking for anything else. We are strongly behind our national chairman. We have been discussing with him. This is the opinion of all the Kano State APC, even at the grassroots.

“Kwankwaso is no longer relevant in Kano. He is only coming to APC, not that we invited him, because he is going to die politically. I am assuring you, and even Mr President has all his security records from the grassroots in Kano.

“He is no more attractive. So, he is struggling to be accommodated in the APC. That may bring a lot of crisis in the APC in Kano state. This is our position.”

He said he won’t be happy having Kwankwaso in the APC. When asked why, the minister said; “Personally, I won’t be happy, unless it is a decision from our father (Ganduje) to accommodate him. I was in the House of Assembly in 1999 when Kwankwaso was the governor. So I know Kwankwaso very well.

“He is no more attractive in Kano. We have no deal unless the national chairman, as a leader, say we should accommodate him. No problem.”

On his part, Dr Ganduje, who said Kwankwaso has been abandoned by all his followers, added that “when a fish is running out of water, that is exactly what is happening. If the water is drying, the fish has to find its way to water. So, that is what is happening. I will not say we are not ready to welcome him.

“When you see your son running to where he would get shelter and you are a big brother in a big home, I think it is morally right to accommodate him. So we cannot say we cannot accommodate him because a friend in need is a friend indeed. Somebody who has been abandoned we should not allow him to wallow in darkness”, he added.

Vanguard News Nigeria