Tobias Sylvester
Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje has endorsed his Deputy, Nasiru Gawuna as his successor in the 2023 governorship election.
Ganduje Anoints Gawuna As Successor
The decision was made at a stakeholders’ meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC) held behind closed-door at the Kano government house which ran throughout the night till Sunday morning.
The stakeholders were also said to have agreed that the former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Murtala Garo, should be the running mate of Gawuna in the election.
It was gathered that it took the intervention of party leaders and elder statesmen to prevail on Garo, who was eyeing the Governorship seat and favorite candidate of Ganduje’s wife, to step down for Gawuna.
Sources said Garo is “believed to have the capacity to deliver votes for the party, considering his influence at the local government level”.
Meanwhile, Ganduje is reportedly making plans to obtain the nomination and expression of interest forms to represent Kano north senatorial district which is presently occupied by Barau Jibrin.
Ganduje was deputy governor of Kano to Rabiu Kwankwaso for two terms — 1999 to 2003, and 2011 to 2015 — before he became governor of the state in 2015.
Kwankwaso had endorsed Ganduje to succeed him but the relationship between the two became relatively frosty shortly after the 2015 elections.
If Gawuna wins the 2023 election, the tradition of deputy governor succeeding their principals would have been maintained in Kano’s recent political era.
Meanwhile, Deputy Governor of Delta State, Kingsley Otuaro has declared his intention to run for the governorship election and succeed Governor Ifeanyi Okowa in 2023.
