Following the defection of former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), his spokesperson, Binta Spikin, has said that President Muhammadu Buhari will not win in Kano State in the 2019 general election.
She said this to PREMIUM TIMES while reacting to Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi’s comment on Mr Buhari’s chances.
According to Punch Newspaper, Mr Amaechi had on Friday said Mr Buhari will win in Sokoto, Kano and Bauchi States in the 2019 general elections even if he was taken to the states “on a sick bed”.
Mr Amaechi also said the governors of Sokoto and Kwara states, Aminu Tambuwal and Abdulfatah Ahmed, will leave the APC.
“On those that defected at the House of Representatives and Senate, where do they come from? They come from areas that the President is comfortable. Do you honestly believe that the President will lose election in Sokoto? We are not God, but it’s one of his comfort zones,” the Punch quoted the minister as saying.
Mr Amaechi heads Mr Buhari’s 2019 campaign organisation.
“If you bring the President on a sick bed to Bauchi and Kano, he will win and he has never lost election in Bauchi. But that is a bit arrogant on our side; we should not underestimate them,” he said.
In her response, Mrs Spikin said Mr Kwankwaso’s defection will not only affect the votes in Kano State but has brought down the APC.
“I think his defection will greatly affect the votes in 2019. His defection will not only affect the chances of the APC in Kano, his defection has brought down APC.
“If you look across Nigeria today, not Kano alone, there’s nowhere in Nigeria that you don’t have the presence of Kwankwasiyya (supporters of Mr Kwankwaso).
“Kano is his home base and he is well grounded in Kano. Even without the government, he had a 60 percent of the voters, so what do you think will happen now that he has joined forces with people like Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau?” she said.
She further said the government needs to know that there is a path that is blocked “even if you fight it.”
“Even if the government puts whatever in place, there is no way President Buhari will win in Kano, there’s no way.”
When asked if Mr Kwankwaso stands a chance of winning the 2019 general election should he officially declare his ambition to run for presidency, she simply said, “He stands a very good chance to win Buhari. We are covered.”
Mr Kwankwaso was one of the 15 senators who defected from the APC on Tuesday.
In his reaction, the governor of the state, Abdullahi Ganduje, had said the mass defection will not affect the party’s chances politically.
He also said Mr Kwankwaso’s exit will not be felt in the state: “I want you to go and study the situation on ground in Kano, his (Kwankwaso) defection does not change the political mood in the state. Nobody cares to be disturbed by their action,” Mr Ganduje said.
Mr Kwankwaso has been locked in a fierce political confrontation with Mr Ganduje. Over the past two years, several attacks and reprisal attacks between the supporters of the two politicians have been reported.