…as Court stops Takai’s election

There are strong indications that the Minister of Education, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, may be heading for a collision course with the presidency in Abuja over his preference for and alleged imposition of Mallam Salihu Sagir Takai on the people, even as the Kano High court has restrained the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) from recognising or presenting Takai as the governorship candidate

While the presidency did not hide its preference for Mohammed Sani Abacha, scion of the Abacha dynasty, on the ground that he has the financial muscle to prosecute the election against a Mallam Rabiu Kwankwanso-sponsored Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Shekarau along with his Foreign Affairs counterpart, Ambassador Aminu Wali, in defiance of the presidential endorsement of Abacha, went ahead to sponsor his adopted candidate, Mallam Salihu Sagir Takai, who emerged as the party’s governorship candidate in 2015 through the controversial party primaries held in the Monday 8 December 2015.

The primary was held on Monday night, despite the call for its cancellation by some stakeholders and its boycott by some of the aspirants, including Mohammed Sani Abacha and Dr. Akilu Sani Indabawa on the grounds of non-compliance with the provisions of the PDP Constitution (as amended) and the electoral guidelines for primary election 2014.

A day before the conduct of the Monday primary, Dr. Indabawa had petitioned the Special State Gubernatorial Congress, 2014, Kano State Chapter, complaining of non-complianece with the electoral guidelines of one out of three delegates being a woman and threatened to boycott the election if the lapses were not corrected.

The following Tuesday, the High Court sitting in Kano has restrained PDP from recognising or presenting Takai as the party’s gubernatorial candidate for Kano State pending the determination of the motion on notice. The suite was filed by Dr. Indabawa in the company of three women. He has sought an interim injunction restraining PDP from releasing or sending or recognising or publishing anybody or any person as Kano State PDP Gubernatorial 2014 candidate for the 2015 general election pending the determination of the motion on notice, and this was expressly granted by the court.

The main ground of the complainants was the non-compliance with the provisions of the PDP Constitution (as amended) and the electoral guidelines for primary election 2014 of the PDP in the composition of ward ad-hoc delegates, which compels every ward or chapter of the party to elect at least one woman into every three delegates that will be participating in the nomination of the candidates.

Part 1 of the electoral guidelines unambiguously stated that one (1) of the three (3) delegates from each ward is mandatorily to be a woman. Section 25 (1) of the PDP Constitution (as amended) also states that : Three delegates per ward elected at ward congress at least one of whom shall be a woman, all of whom shall cease to function at the conclusion of the congress for which they were elected.

However, out of the 484 wards of the 44 Local Government Areas of Kano State, only 152 wards complied with the provisions while 332 wards were in clear violation. Representing the women who were allegedly denied the rights were Hajiya Rabi Shehu Sharada, Hajiya Binta Kabir Gama and Hajiya Maryam A. Yawa. Joined as defendants in the suite are the PDP, Alhaji Ahmed Gusau, Alhaji Rabiu Dansharu and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

“The believe in Abuja was that only Mohammed has the kind of resources and followership required to beat a Kwankwanso in Kano right now. But both Kwankwanso and Wali want to hijack and dominate our party for their own selfish reasons. They have presented and imposed on us the same candidate that was no match for Kwankwanso when Shekarau put him against Kwankwanso who was then in PDP in 2011.” Mohammed on the other hand had tested his political strength when he won the governorship primary of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in 2011, though hea source revealed.

It would be recalled that Mr. Takai, sponsored by the same Mallam Shekarau, contested the governorship seat on the platform of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, in 2011 and lost to incumbent Rabiu Kwankwaso who was the PDP candidate then.

An impeccable source, close to the Abuja seat of power, however revealed that Shekarau and Wali may eventually be overruled on the imposition of Takai as candidate on two grounds that he would not be able to muster enough votes that would beat a Kwankwanso-sponsored APC candidate and that the process did not comply with the election guidelines.

Signed:

Mohammed Bala