Immediate past governor of Kano State, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau has faulted the claims of his former aide, Ibrahim Garba that his defection to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will not translate to electoral victory for the party in the 2015 general elections.
Garba, who was a Commissioner in Kano State throughout the eight years tenure of Shekarau, had in an interview on Tuesday, noted that many loyalists of his former boss kicked against his defection from the All Progressive Congress (APC) to the PDP.
He also said many of the former governor’s associates remained in the APC in order to wrest power from the PDP because, “Malam told us that the PDP is a party of the devils and we are still acting on his advice”.
However, in a sharp rebuke of his former aide, Shekarau said Garba did not have the right to comment on Kano politics as he is a non-indigene and urged him to redirect his focus on Edo State, where he originally hails from.
The one-time presidential candidate of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, also maintained that his loyalists and supporters have since followed him to the PDP, describing his defection as a “collective resolution” of all.
“I’m not surprised to hear this kind of statement from him because he lacks conscience. He has no constituency. As far as we are concerned, he is not even from Kano State, he is from Edo State.
“He cannot move freely in Kano; he has relocated to Kaduna. So why should he be talking about Kano politics? One, he doesn’t play politics in Kano. Two, he is not conversant with Kano politics. And three, he is not from Kano State. Let him comment on the politics of Edo State where he hails from”, Shekarau said through his media aide, Sule Yau Sule.
On what informed his defection to PDP, a party he has over the years denounced, Shekarau said the ruling party had some good people that he could associate with.
“In every political party you have evils and you have good people. It is not the political party that matters, it is who you are associating with that matters. We have conscience and ideology that are guiding us”, he said in a phone interview.
