How Sak Factor Could Swing Votes For Ganduje

WHAT has come to be known as the Sak factor could once again be a determinant in the governorship election in Kano State, where the All Progressive Congress (APC) candidate and Deputy Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, and Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Salihu Sagir Takai would slug it out.

  The Sak factor often referred to as Hurricane Buhari single-handedly swayed votes for the defunct All Peoples Party (APP) candidate in the 2003 governorship polls, leading to the defeat of the then incumbent governor, Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso, by a relatively unknown educationalist and technocrat, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau.

  On the eve of the polls, the moment Buhari, who at the time was APP’s presidential candidate, simply raised the hands of Shekarau, proclaiming “APP Sak,” connoting an order on all electorate to vote for all the party’s candidates at a campaign rally at the Kano Race Course, it was enough ginger required to black out the PDP.

  In 2007, the Sak factor did not really play out in Kano politics after Shekarau, who was angling for his second term in office, fell apart with Buhari, often referred to as mai gaskiya by his teeming supporters in Kano. 

  Shekarau, with the incumbency factor to his advantage, toiled and sweated to reclaim his mandate in the contest with Alhaji Ahmed Garba Bichi, a protégé of Kwankwaso, who at the instance of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, had to beat a retreat from the Kano political turf then.

  In 2011, the Buhari factor was at play once again when the never say die Kwankwaso re-launched his political career. While Alhaji Sagir Takai solely depended on Shekarau to succeed in his campaign, Kwankwaso played a smart one by not repeating the mistake of his 2003 campaign, where he ignored the Buhari moving train and opted to canvass support for the re-election of Obasanjo in Kano. 

  He avoided President Goodluck Jonathan like a plaque, while his supporters aligned themselves with the presidential aspiration of Buhari. 

  It paid off for Kwankwaso, who faced no difficulties in reclaiming the governorship seat the second time.

  As Kwankwaso, now a Kano Central senatorial candidate, prepares to leave office on May 29, the question is whether Ganduje, his anointed successor, would profit from the Sak factor and coast home to victory.

  Members of the opposition PDP, who are aware of the effect of the Sak factor, could have heaved a sigh of relief when a crack appeared within the ranks of the APC, due to a power squabble between members of the Kwankwasiyya and Legacy groups that constitute the nucleus of the party.

  Members of the Legacy Group actually felt short-changed and marginalised by the Kwankwasiyya group, who took away the slots of the governor and deputy governor, with the emergence of Ganduje and Professor Hafiz Abubakar, who until now was the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academics) Bayero University, Kano (BUK).

  Members of the Legacy Group were drawn from the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigerian Peoples party (ANPP) and Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), who bandy themselves as the main APC members, as against the Kwankwasiyya group, who decamped, alongside Kwankwaso, from the PDP, are yet to comprehend how they lost out in the power game.

  In this group was House of Representatives member, Kawu Sumaila, who was said to have been prevailed upon to settle for the governorship slot, only to be dumped at the last minute by reasons best known to the party stakeholders.

  Sumaila, who is the House Minority Leader, is credited to enjoy his own fair share of supporters was said to have threatened that he would align his forces with that of PDP’s Sagir Takai as a means of hitting back at the Kwankwasiyya group for aborting his aspiration.

  Kwankwaso, who got piqued with Sumaila’s antics, has urged supporters not to allow anybody to throw spanners in the wheels of progress by voting for Ganduje, who is well versed with the philosophical underpinning of his administration.

  There are indications that the APC in Kano is not going into the election in tatters, after Buhari waded into the matter by pacifying Sumaila, who has now been co-opted into the party’s presidential campaign council.

  As things stands, PDP’s Takai, a two-term council chairman, is left with no option, but to contend with the Sak factor, which was aptly put to test penultimate week when Buhari visited Kano to canvass for votes. 

  The crowd that thronged the Sani Abacha Stadium was so intimidating that most observers believe Kano is already in APC’s kitty. 

  Beyond the Sak was what one analyst referred to as Kwankwasiyya factor, which would come handy to Ganduje, himself a key player in the governance of Kano for eight years.

  When the Kwankwasiyya factor was put to test in May last year, the APC had a smooth ride, sweeping all the 44 councils and the 484 councilor seats declared by the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC). 

  Ganduje, who is calming frayed nerves over the nomination of his running mate, is upbeat on his chances of winning the election. 

  At the unveiling of his blueprint for a “Greater Kano,” he said no stone would be left unturned in mobilising voters to achieve a landslide victory for all APC candidates in the state.

   He promised to consolidate on Kwankwaso’s achievements with innovative ideas to take the state to enviable height, adding his administration would give emphasis to quality education and provision of social amenities for the people.

  “If there is a transition between one government and another, the most important issue is continuity…

  “If I win the election, I will ensure that all the capital projects are completed.”