Kwankwaso: I’m determined to end politics of bitterness – Ganduje

National chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has said he is determined to end politics of bitterness in the country, hence his move to get together with a former governor of Kano State, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.

Ganduje, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Enlightenment, Chief Oliver Okpala, on Sunday, said he would continue to push for a united and cohesive Nigeria that meets the aspirations of citizens and ensure peace, unity and sanity in the orbit of the country’s politics.

Recall that Kwankwaso had left the APC for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) following differences with Ganduje, before moving to the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) to run for presidency in the 2023 election.

The feud between them was so intense that Kwankwaso was barred from entering Kano, when Ganduje was governor. But there are reports that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is pushing for reconciliation between the duo.

A few days ago, Ganduje called on Kwankwaso and other leaders of NNPP in Kano, including Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, to join the APC.

But, the governor’s spokesperson and Director General, Media and Publicity, Sanusi Bature Dawakin-Tofa, said Yusuf was not invited formally, as he only got the appeal through the media.

But in a statement on Sunday, Ganduje said, “This is the first time the Chairman of a ruling political party in the country has exhibited such maturity, taking such approach and calling for a united front. It is a call to avoid bitterness and rancour, it is a call for politicians to work together as Nigerians and to see each other as brothers and sisters.

“From his comment it is important that the intention of his call should not be misconstrued. It should be seen as what it is, an invitation from a matured politician without guile, aimed at building the much needed synergy that Nigeria needs to surmount its multifaceted challenges.

“For Ganduje, this is a way of fostering national unity and peaceful coexistence in the country and sanitising the political system, exorcising it off the preachers of bitterness and hatred.

“It is a call from a government in power at the centre that has never seen the people in the opposition as conquered but as potential comrades in joining a movement for the task of liberating the nation from the stranglehold of long standing degradation which the current APC administration is tackling.”