2023 poll: Peter Obi will pull surprise votes in Kano, says LP guber candidate

Vows to send Kwankwaso, Ganduje, Wali to political retirement

A gubernatorial candidate under the Labour Party in Kano, Bashir I. Bashir has expressed confidence in massive votes for the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi in the 2023 poll in Kano.

Though Obi is assumed to be among the unpopular presidential candidates in Kano, Bashir vowed to go to any length to secure major votes for the Labour Party candidate in the state, amid other heavy-weight candidates.

Bashir gave the assurance while featuring on the ‘2023 Dialogue series’, a programme organised by the Correspondent Chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists in Kano, to spotlight the blueprint of political aspirants ahead of next year’s election.

The LP governorship candidate reminded that Obi, popularly regarded as a dark horse in the presidential race, is the only presidential candidate with a proven track record of competence and credibility to unturned the country’s economic instability.

He regretted that President Mohammadu Buhari, who the Northern region massively supported with block votes in 2015, has not only failed the region but disappointed the entire country with the ravaging security woes.

“Next election will be about merit, competence and character of the candidate and political parties. Nigerians are tired of APC and PDP because they have come to realise there is no difference between the two political parties.

“Again, President Muhammad Buhari failed the North and his eight years in government are simply wasteful years for the North. We voted for Buhari as Northerners to upturn the economic persecution the region witnessed during President Obasanjo tenure. But today, we know what the country has turned to during this administration,” Bashir regretted.

Talking about Kano politics, the LP governorship candidate said he is battling ready to sentence former Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and former Minister of Foreign Affairs and leader of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ambassador Aminu Wali, to permanent political retirement come 2023.

He said Kano has no problem ranking among backward states in the country considering the enormous natural resources and economic activities. Bashir, who stressed that next year’s election provides an opportunity for Kano to choose between “distinction and mediocrity” in government, said he’s ready to offer himself for “needed credible alternative”.

“When I become Governor, I will be the economic manager of Kano State. We have 17 dams wasting in Kano. Each dam if converted to irrigation farming will feed Kano and entire West Africa. And the cost of constructing two bridges in Kano is enough to build the dams.

” We would redirect government policy on industrialisation. We would build 50 megawatts of the hydro-independent power plant to power Sharada industrial hub and within six months of our administration, the plant will be upgraded to 100 megawatts to power Challawa industrial area.

“Today in Kano, one in every five newborn babies, that is about 20 per cent, will die before reaching the age of five because of malnutrition, and other diseases. This is because our healthcare has failed.

“I challenge Kano people to examine those contesting the governorship critically, our linkage and relationship, either close or distant with past and present leaders. Is any gubernatorial candidate an accomplice in past or present governments that brought the current horror of economic hardship, corruption and moral decay to our society?

“Has any one of us contributed, in aiding or abating corrupt practices, election rigging, or racketeering of public funds or property? Who among the candidates is fearless, focused, determined and has no political baggage whatsoever in discharging his duty as a governor without taking instructions from a godfather,” Bashir challenged.