The governor of northern
Nigeria’s most populous state, Kano, Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso yesterday at a
rally in Abuja announced his bid to run for president on the platform of the All
Progressives Congress (APC), to become the third presidential aspirant on the
platform of APC.
Kwankwaso, who defected from the
ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) of President Goodluck Jonathan last
year, was a former deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, a former defense
minister, and also served as Nigeria’s envoy to the restive Darfur region of
Sudan, and war-torn Somalia under President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Kwankwaso said, “I’m offering
myself and soliciting the support of Nigerians to join Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso on
this difficult journey to reclaim our country from the clutches of incompetency
and destruction and tie it to the pedestal of peace and progress.”
“I have no doubt in my mind that
this journey is difficult and arduous. I’m under no illusion about the enormity
of the challenge. But to save our country we must walk the journey, no matter
how difficult, and we must defeat all the challenges, however monstrous they
are.”
Kwankwaso and a number of other
influential state governors who switched sides in protest at Jonathan’s
apparent ambition for re-election after he allegedly pledged to serve only one
term, put tackling insecurity, endemic corruption, boosting economic growth and
improving equality at the heart of his campaign. President Goodluck Jonathan is
expected to formally declare for re-election on November 11, even as his 200-member
presidential declaration committee meets in Abuja on today.
Kwankwaso, 58, faces an uphill
battle to win the APC primary due in early December, with both Buhari and
Abubakar enjoying huge political followings in the Muslim-majority north. The
defection of governors to the APC was seen as strengthening the opposition’s
hand, giving the opposition a chance of winning power for the first time since
Nigeria returned to civilian rule in 1999.
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