The senator representing Kano Central in the National Assembly, Ibrahim Shekarau, has narrated how the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) presidential candidate, Senator Rabiu Musa, betrayed him.
Shekarau said he defected from the NNPP to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) because Kwankwaso betrayed him and his followers.
The former Kano State governor said the NNPP presidential candidate deliberately delayed implementing the agreements they reached before joining the party until INEC closed receiving candidates.
He disclosed this during an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today.
KEMI FILANI NEWS had reported that Shekarau formally defected from the NNPP to the PDP on Monday.
He said, “We made our proposal as a group, as a movement together with all my political associations and we sat down with Rabiu Kwankwaso. I submitted my proposal and he accepted it. He said in one or three days he was going to prepare his own proposal and then I together with him will sit down to sort ourselves out and then harmonize and see what we could do for these electable people from various constituencies.
“He and I having governed Kano we sufficiently know all the key players regardless of the parties they belong.
“I felt it was not a big deal to sit down to organize people from his and my camps, who are electable. We kept on waiting. I submitted this to him on the 10th of May and by 11th of May, I reminded. Meanwhile our own movement had taken a decision.”
He added, “The same 14th of May by midnight, we saw a list released by the party leadership of the state, hand written list of candidates and their constituencies. In fact, on the list released by May 18th, some constituencies had no name. The following morning I met him (Kwankwaso) and challenged the list.
“We said this is unacceptable because in the entire list except my name, no any other name from our own movement or our own association was reflected on the list.
“By 12th of August all the doors had been shut by INEC. There was no way you can make any substitution either at state level or national level. I had to call a meeting of my political associates to brief them as what we went through in three months.
“To our surprise, two days later, my brother Rabiu Kwankwaso was on air on the Hausa Service of BBC, saying there was no way we could be attended because we joined the party when it was too late. A party we joined on 18th of May when candidates were being sorted out and primaries were being held?
“That is the least you can call it, betrayal, outright disregard, manipulation. Our guiding principle is the protection of our image.”
