APC offers Kano central district senatorial seat to Ibrahim Shekarau as he dumps PDP

FORMER Kano State governor Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau has been offered the Kano Central Senatorial District seat by the All Progressives Congress (APC) currently being occupied by Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso.

Earlier this year, Senator Kwankwaso left the APC and joined the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), where he has expressed his interest in running for the presidency. Following his decision to join the PDP, Mallam Shekarau in turn left the party and defected to join the APC.

This week, after much debate, Mallam Shekarau was welcomed into the APC officially by the Kano State governor Abdullahi Ganduje at a ceremony in the state capital. This could lead to another Shekarau/Kwankwaso battle as the incumbent senator is also believed to be eyeing a return to the senate in the event that he loses at the PDP presidential primaries.

An APC delegation led by its national chairman Adams Oshiomhole, went to Kano to woo Mallam Shekarau and are believed have made some concessions to him. These include the automatic integration of his group into the APC structure in the state, an automatic senatorial ticket, commissioner slots in the Kano State executive council, seats in the Federal House of Representatives and Kano State House of Assembly and some federal appointments.

One party source said: “APC delegation went to Kano in order to beg Shekarau to join our party where he has like minds with progressive inclination. Do not forget that he was a long-standing associate of President Muhammadu Buhari in the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party.

“We considered him a prized politician who can make an electoral impact in any political party, so what PDP does not value, we went for. After preliminary engagement in Abuja, we decided to formally invite him into a party he deservedly belongs.”

Prior to receiving the APC delegation, Mallam Shekarau declined spirited efforts by the PDP to keep him after it had sent a delegation led by senate president Senator Bukola Saraki to woo him. Among other things, the PDP decided to expand its caretaker committee to accommodate the ex-governor.