Abba Hamisu Sani
Africa-Press – Nigeria. The 2023 elections are considered to be very crucial in Nigeria’s journey as the biggest Democracy in Africa.
The February 25th Presidential and National Assembly election was a very tied race between the ruling All Progressives Congress APC , the main opposition PDP ,Labour Party and the New Nigeria People’s Party as another force particularly in Nigeria’s most populous state Kano.
The second election conducted by the Independent National electoral commission INEC this year was the Gubernatorial and the state House of Assemblies held on 18th of March across the 28 States.
Lagos and Kano States as the centers of concern
Lagos and Kano are two states regarded to be very critical in Nigerian Politics by the virtue of their Population and economic status.
Lagos State is the stronghold of Nigeria’s President elect. Bola Tinubu since 1999 but in a strange manner his Party APC lost in the state during the 25th February Presidential election to the Labour Party.
The situation created so much tension among the ruling class of the state as the new slogan emerged:”Lagos is no Man’s Land.’
As the Labour Party Gubernatorial Candidate Gbadebo Rhodes Vivour was very popular especially among Youth and Middle class citizens of Lagos.
The incumbent Governor under APC Babajide Sanwo Olu was lucky to win his reelection but the contest was a tough one unlike the Previous Governorship election which the opposition parties were nothing to be reckon with in the politics dominated by a single Political class lead by Bola Tinubu for about 24 years.
Kano is considered to be President Buhari’s Political stronghold since he joined politics in 2003.But this time his Party lost the Governorship election to the New Nigeria People’s Party.
Kano Politics has three major players mainly Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso the Presidential Candidate of NNPP during the 2023 Presidential poll , Senator Ibrahim Shekarau the former Governor of the state and the incumbent Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
The three major candidates contested for the 18th March Gubernatorial election in Kano states were Abba Kabir Yusuf of NNPP , Nasiru Yusif Gawuna of the ruling APC who is also the serving deputy Governor and Sadik Wali of PDP.
The contest was very tough between the APC and NNPP which emerged the winner of the poll.
With NNPP winning the Governorship of the most populous state in the country, some analysts are describing Kano Politics as a unique one of ideology and philosophy.
They also described the New Nigeria People’s Party under Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso’s leadership as a new train in Kano Politics as the party has two senators out of three and seventeen house of representative members out of 24.
With this development Kwankwaso is the gladiator of Kano Politics as Tinubu in Lagos. Tinubu’s camp produced three governors in Lagos state from 2007 to date.
Kwankwaso now produced two governors in Kano ; Abdullahi Ganduje in 2015 and Abba Kabir Yusuf who is the governor elect in the 2023 election.
The two largest States under different Political Parties
As the ruling Party APC retained Lagos state as Governor Sanwo Olu was reelected to lead the state for another four years.
In Kano state the case was different as Abba Kabir Yusuf of NNPP emerged winner .
In his victory speech the Governor of Lagos state Babajide Sanwo Olu condemns ethnic profiling, says People of Lagos chose competence and experience.
The governor was declared the winner of the Lagos State gubernatorial election as he scored 762,134 votes by defeating Labour Party that scored 312,329 and PDP with 62,449 votes.
The Governor said that elections are over now, governance must continue, and the dividends of democracy must continue to be delivered, as there must be no break and no time off.
According to him, his government will keep all the promises made to the people of Lagos state.
Abba Kabir Yusuf who is the Kano state Governor elect. Said he will not take the mandate of the Kano state People for granted.
He stated this when presenting his acceptance speech in Kano.
Mr. Kabir said he will continue with the legacy of the former governor of the state Rabiu Kwankwaso, and complete the abandoned projects.
Kano State governor elect, Abba Kabir, has said he will not take for granted the trust between his party the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), and the people of Kano State while discharging of his responsibilities as governor.
“Our unflinching gratitude goes to the entire people of the state. We recognize your determination, courage, loyalty, and commitment as well as your ferocious resolve to defend your sovereign rights and the integrity of our democracy” Mr Kabir said in his acceptance speech on Tuesday 21st March 2023.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Mr Kabir as the winner of Saturday’s 18th governorship election in Kano.
The NNPP candidate won with 1,019,602 votes to defeat the candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) Nasiru Gawuna, who scored 890,705 votes.
The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sadik Wali got 15,957 votes while that of the Labour Party, Ishaq Bashir, scored 5,409 votes.
Abba Kabir added that he won the election despite widespread violence, vote buying, and other challenges during the conduct of the governorship and state house of assembly election.
“Even though our party the NNPP is relatively new, coupled with the fact that the logo of our party was poorly depicted on the ballot paper and widespread electoral violence; you still gave us your mandate.
“We had no money and due to the inflicted poverty on the citizenry the government took advantage by buying votes of the people with both the new and old currencies and distributing wrappers and other household items to voters. Against all these odds you still came out in mass to give us your mandate. We are profoundly grateful and will not take your mandate for granted.
“Our unreserved commendation goes to members of the armed forces who were deployed to Kano for the election and most of the other security agencies and indeed the Independent Electoral Commission for maintaining their neutrality by keeping the peace and promptly responding to our genuine complaints before, during, and after the elections.
“In the same vein, I salute and commend the patriotism of members of the media for their coverage and also applaud and appreciate the role played by members of the Civil Society and the numerous domestic and international observer groups that worked tirelessly towards ensuring free, fair, and credible elections,” Mr Kabir said.
“Our administration will be an off-shoot of the Kwankwaso administration and we assure the good people of Kano State of our resolve to uphold and continue with the philosophy of the Kwankwasiyya.
“We shall continue with its laudable populace policies of good qualitative education, empowerment programs, policies and programs that promote skills acquisition and entrepreneurship, the completion of abandoned projects, free maternal healthcare programs, and the provision of a conducive atmosphere for the development of businesses in and within the state.
“We cannot complete this acceptance speech without thanking our leader and mentor, His Excellency Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso for his untiring effort that led to the declaration of our mandate today as Governor and Deputy Elect. Finally, we thank all people of goodwill across the country and even foreign nationals,” The Kano state Governor elect.
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