The Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Jibrin Barau, has said it would soon be rare to see anyone with a red cap, the symbol of the Kwankwasiyya Movement in Kano State.
Likewise, the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa, punctured the statement of the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in the 2023 general elections, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, that Nigerians will vote out the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 polls.
Barau and Doguwa were responding to comments by Kwankwaso, on Thursday, that the wind of change was gathering momentum and that it would chase away bad leaders in the 2027 elections. Kwankwaso had said this when he received many defectors from All Progressives Congress (APC) to NNPP at his residence in Kano.
Barau, according to a statement by his media aide Ismail Mudashir, stated this on Friday, when he received hundreds of grassroots leaders of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the National Assembly.
The Deputy Senate President said the rate at which the NNPP members, including their leaders, were trooping to the APC was a testament to the growing popularity and support APC is getting in Kano State despite being an opposition party.
Barau said, “I will continue to receive NNPP members rushing to join our party. Politics is a game of numbers. If you have a political party and members of other parties are not joining you, it means there is a problem.
“The NNPP members are attracted to the APC by our numerous interventions across critical spheres of our state and the country at large by the President Tinubu administration.
“At the formation of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu went across the country to woo people to the party.
“This was why the party became popular in the country. We will continue receiving NNPP and other party members regardless of what some people say.
“Time will come. You will be looking for someone with a red cap, the symbol of the Kwankwasiyya, and you won’t see any in Kano. We will get there soon.
“We are doing this to lay a solid foundation for our party, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and others to win the presidential, governorship, national and state House of Assembly elections come 2027 in Kano and beyond.”
The Deputy National Women Leader of the APC, Hajiya Zainab Abubakar Ibrahim, who witnessed the defection, commended Senator Barau, describing him as a blessing to the APC, the people of Kano State, the North and the country.
“The massive support our party is receiving in Kano shows the days of the NNPP are numbered in the state. We will take back our state at the poll come 2027, by Allah’s grace,” she said.
The Deputy President of the Senate also received members of the APC Amalgamated Support Groups in Kano State at the National Assembly.
Under the leadership of Hon. Shehu Isa Direba, the group was at the National Assembly to reaffirm their support and appreciation for Senator Barau over his various interventions in the state.
The group, comprising former LG chairmen, party stakeholders, farmers, businessmen, and civil servants, among others, said that with the support and interventions of Senator Barau, APC is no longer considered an opposition party in Kano.
Meanwhile, Doguwa has punctured the statement by Kwankwaso, that Nigerians would vote out the APC in 2027.
Doguwa while responding to the statement said “Kwankwaso is yet to recover from the defeat he suffered at the hands of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu during the 2023 presidential election, hence, he is hallucinating about the 2027.”
Doguwa further said Kwankwaso should stop the hallucinations and face his imminent retirement from the political scene in 2027.
“At a political gathering on Thursday, my colleague in the House of Representatives in the 3rd Republic, Kwankwaso, took his hallucination to the moon when he said Nigerians are tired of APC and will change it in 2027. As we all know, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not leaving any stone unturned in his quest to return our country to the path of progress and prosperity for the benefit of all”
The lawmaker who is a ranking member of the House of Representatives, said President Tinubu took over the mantle of leadership in the country 16 months ago when the economy was in terrible shape in all spheres.
“Since assuming office on May 29, 2023, President Tinubu has been working genuinely to correct the fiscal misalignments, the bane of the country’s economic downturn.”
He stressed that “The country has attracted foreign direct investments worth more than $30 billion in 16 months. He said President Tinubu has paid a forex backlog of $7 billion and cleared the ways and means of over N30 trillion he inherited from the last administration.”
“President Tinubu reduced the debt service ratio from 97 to 68 per cent and kept our foreign reserve at $37 billion. Only this week, the Economic Stabilisation Bills have been transmitted to us in the National Assembly to stimulate our productive capacity and create more jobs and prosperity in the country.”
Speaking on security, he said the government has eliminated over 300 Boko Haram and bandit commanders, including Kachalla Halilu Sububu, who terrorised the people in Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina and Kaduna for over five years.
“A fresh air is already permeating the North-west in view of the onslaught against these bandits. Our people are now returning to their farms. We pray for a bumper harvest. We are also grateful to Mr. President for establishing the North-west Development Commission to hasten up the reconstruction and rebuilding of our geopolitical zone, which is the food basket of our country.”
The lawmaker however expressed optimism that in a few months, the hardship being faced in the country will fizzle out as the president’s numerous interventions bear fruits.
He further urged Kwankwaso to free and stop remote controlling the Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, saying, “The disgruntled NNPP government has already lost focus and fell out with the good people of Kano State. No matter the noise Kwankwaso makes, the APC in Kano is already poised to unseat the kangaroo NNPP government in Kano State come 2027 following the non-performance, loss of people’s confidence and breach of electoral confidence of the NNPP.
“Kwankwaso lacks the morality to speak for the people of the North, adding that his assertion was only a whimsical statement applicable to himself.”
Sunday Aborisade and Juliet Akoje
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