APC fingers Kwankwasiyya as groups call for Ganduje’s sack

The Kano State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the Kwankwasiyya Movement in the state of sponsoring a group of youths said to be members of the party to demand the removal of Abdullahi Umar Ganduje its (APC) national chairman.

Daily Trust reports that the youth groups on Sunday called on President Bola Tinubu to sack Ganduje for his alleged failure to deliver Kano State to the party in the last governorship election.

The chairman of the group, Sadiq Ali Sango, who made the call while briefing journalists in Kano, also called on the president to extend a hand of fellowship to Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, the leader of the Kwankwasiyya Movement and the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) to join the party (APC).

The group described Kwankwaso as a man of integrity, vision, and courage who has made immense contributions to the development and progress of Kano State and the nation at large.

“We are calling on Kwankwaso to join APC, we are ready to support and work with him for the betterment of our dear state and Nigeria at large,” the group said.

But reacting to the call for the sack of Ganduje, the deputy chairman of APC in the state, Shehu Maigari, told Daily Trust that the party does not have a group of youth calling for the sack of the national chairman, alleging that they (APC leaders) know that the said groups were sponsored by the Kwankwasiyya Movement.

He said, “An English proverb says “no smoke without fire and no action without a cause”. The so-called APC youth group that is agitating for these negative issues is not of APC members. As far as APC is concerned we don’t have a recognised body of that nature.

“They are sponsored by the Kwankwasiyya and they are from the Kwankwasiyya group and they are working for them.

“Those that sponsored them are the people now trying to align or to bulldoze themselves into APC after waging a serious war against the party.”

Similarly, an aide to Ganduje, Abdul Zulu, debunked the allegation of the group, alleging that Sango, the leader of the group, is a member of the Kwankwasiyya Movement.

He made this allegation by sharing a picture showing Sango with Kwankwaso. Daily Trust, has, however not independently verified the authenticity of the picture.

Reacting, the chairman of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in Kano and leading member of the Kwankwasiyya Movement, Hashim Dungurawa, denied knowledge of the APC group but saluted their courage.

He said, “Those youth are true democrats because looking at what is going on at APC despite not being my party, it is not good for democracy. It’s a party where dictatorship is being put in place and so many things. I doubt their own way of doing things will yield result for any party.

“I am also calling on the president to definitely do something on this. We have nothing to do with APC; we didn’t sponsor anybody to do whatever.”

Also reacting to the issue, another group, Kano Integrity Block, urged well-meaning Nigerians to dismiss calls by sponsored youths portraying themselves as APC members, advocating for the removal of Ganduje as APC national chairman.

In a statement issued to newsmen in Abuja and signed by Bashir Maisango, Kano Integrity Block stated that the so-called APC youth are merely sponsored political groups aiming to tarnish the hard-earned efforts of APC national chairman, who has successfully reconciled aggrieved party members in states like Ondo and Rivers since his emergence about seven months ago.

Daily Trust had earlier reported that some interest groups in the North Central were mulling making a move to oust Ganduje from the national chairmanship position with the hope of “regaining” the seat they believed ought to have been retained in the zone after the former chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, was forced to quit.