It has been said that when an ant is on the verge of becoming useless, it grows wings and begins flying (Hausa proverb). Politics as they say is a game of betrayal, style, skirmishes and dribbling. This description has made many betray the trust the masses put on them all in the search of greener pasture, and most of the time on their way of searching the “greener pasture” they lose their relevance completely and become a part of history. Many politicians in the past, especially in Nigeria had cross carpeted from one party to another, to the extent that even their spouses or close allies can hardly accurately count the number of political parties they had romance with to satisfy their greed and egos.

As the 2023 election is edging closer, politicians have started their usual deceptions to garner the support of the masses and many of them have seen with corner of their eyes, their fate boldly written. The major contestants among them have started splashing the money they stole from the public treasury and stashed in various foreign and domestics bank accounts in their previous appointments and positions they held, alas, many will spent the money in the wrong way and on the wrong people and regret doing it as many of the politicians will go back to square one when they were finally caught by “Karma”.

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In Kano State, the political atmosphere has taken a new dimension with ruling party in the state engulfed by many crises from the leadership of the party which gave birth to a new faction called G-7 led by Malam Ibrahim Shekarau with backing of five other lawmakers from the state and the chairman “The Buhari Organization” to splitting of the camp of the Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje. In the governor’s camp too, the story is not a pleasant one as the anointed candidate of the governor who was handpicked by the wife of the governor is facing many challenges from within the camp who are determined and desperate to eliminate him and undo what the first lady did at any cost. This brouhaha was what led to another faction in the ruling party called G-9 with people like Kabiru Alasan Ruram, Member representing Rano, Kibiya & Bunkure, Abdurrahman Kawu Sumaila and Alasan Ado Doguwa, member representing Tudun Wada and Doguwa with support of the majority of Kano State House of Assembly Members in the state. This support was what almost cost the speaker in the state his seat few weeks ago for being loyal to his former colleague.

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) also like other political parties in the country is not immune from the crises, this includes the internal party crisis which has to do with leadership at the different levels to the allege sidelining in the party’s activities and decisions as complained by one of its stalwarts, Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso. This internal party crisis in some states was what led to many members of Kwankwasiya movement to move to an unknown party with hope to recapture power if not anywhere but in Kano State, the state that according to political commentators is believed to be the biggest and largest centre of politics due to its population and the number of politicians it’s produced in the past and the present ones. The followers in the party have been in conflict with one another for a very long time, which has resulted in the party losing major seats in 2003 elections including the seat of the governor in the state. Though there were some reconciliations to mend the internal crisis between the camp of Aminu Wali and Rabi’u Kwankwaso’s, however, it seems one of the camps has lost the battle and decided to switch allegiance to another party.

The desperation by politicians to win elections by all means, is the genesis of our problems and the loss of political ideology in the country. To prove these desperation and over ambitions of politicians in the country, on the 29th of March, 2022, the Kwankwasiya leader in Kano State announced his formal resignation from PDP and joined a barely known political party, New Nigerian People’s Party (NNPP). With the recent dumping of the PDP by Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, the Kwankwasiya leader has switched camps four times from 1999 to date and in every occasion when joining another party he will give one reason or the other just like other politicians in the country. This time, some of the reasons he cited include the refusal of the party leadership to allow him to nominate the party leaders in the North West as the party did to all the other leaders in other zones. Another reason was that the party is not giving him the DUE respect he deserves. These according to political analysts in the state are just mere excuses and cannot hold water.

As we draw near to the 2023 elections, all eyes are on the politicians in the state to see who will emerge victorious and who will be buried politically.

Ali Sabo Writes from Kano