By Haruna Salami
Apparently referring to spate of defections from opposition political parties to the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), the senator representing Kano Central on the platform of New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) Rufai Hanga has said that “APC ship is overloaded and will sink”.
Speaking with PenMaster at the National Assembly, Abuja, Rufai, who is the Deputy Minority Whip of the Senate said those leaders that have moved to the APC are moving there for one reason or the other without carrying the masses along.
According to him, the fact that some state governors dumped the original party that gave them the mandate to govern does not always mean they have the people with them.
He said “how many governors previously contested a senatorial seat and lost to their opponents even when they were still governors, and were leaving? Too many governors contested and lost a senatorial seat.
“So they are on their own. All these people moving, they are moving alone, not only in Kano, in most of the areas in Nigeria, because people are still unhappy. See, there are certain things the government must do to make everybody toe their line. They are not doing it. They are trying, but their best is not enough.
Still on defection into APC, the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) chieftain said “APC’s ship will sink because it’s overloaded. I’m talking from experience. Let’s just wait and see, it will sink, they won’t succeed. Let us start from congresses and conventions. Let’s see what happens.
He said the moment congresses and conventions start, that is when you will begin to see the sign. The ship will start tumbling and eventually sink.
Talking about the political development in Kano in particular, where the Governor Abba Yusuf of the NNPP defected to the APC, Senator Hanga said he is not bothered by that because, according to him, the governor left with his commissioners, that is his appointees, and maybe some special assistants (S.As); most of them have resigned now,
As for the local government chairmen, Hanga said because their money come to the governor as a pipe that certainly releases money to them, “they either go with him or he starves them to death. So they are going there because of their monies”.
He said Kwankwasiya is a movement and anywhere we decide to move, we move together, adding that the most important thing are those electorate, the people that cast votes, who are still with the NNPP.
Hanga gave an example of how one week, Kwankwaso sat in his house, receiving people on solidarity visit after the governor’s defection. “Then we suggested that, look, we better take record of those coming. So, we opened about 10 registers. 3.7 million people came on solidarity visit to Kwankwaso in one week; some crying that he was betrayed because they knew how he brought the governor and most of these men”.
