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The All Progressives Congress (APC) stakeholders have accused the vice-presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Musa Kwankwaso, of being jittery over the appointment of former governor of Zamfara State, Abdul’aziz Yari, as the Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) for next year’s presidential election.
They claimed that Kwankwaso’s comment on the appointment was the clearest indication that Yari’s emergence has unsettled the opposition.
The stakeholders, under the auspices of APC Daga Titi Zuwa Titi, a coalition of North-West grassroots mobilisation, wondered why, out of all the appointments announced in the APC campaign structure, Kwankwaso found it necessary to personally appeal to Senator Yari to reconsider his acceptance of the responsibility.
The ruling party’s stakeholders, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Jaafar Hassan, stressed that politicians rarely advise their opponents to abandon positions they consider politically irrelevant.
They argued that Yari’s appointment had altered the political calculations of opposition leaders, particularly in the North-West, where he has built an extensive political network and growing grassroots following.
“Senator Kwankwaso may dress his intervention in the language of brotherly concern, but Nigerians can see through it. You do not publicly plead with an opponent to leave the battlefield unless you are worried about what his presence on that battlefield means.”
“President Bola Tinubu did not appoint Senator Yari to decorate a campaign list. He appointed a former two-term governor, former Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, serving Senator and experienced grassroots politician who understands the political terrain of Northern Nigeria and has demonstrated an ability to organise, mobilise and build relationships across political and regional boundaries. That is what has made Kwankwaso uncomfortable,” they claimed.
The APC stakeholders also described as ironic Kwankwaso’s attempt to question Yari’s political choices at a time when Kwankwaso himself is relying on his alliance with Peter Obi and the national attention surrounding that ticket to expand his political relevance beyond his traditional base.
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“Senator Kwankwaso is free to ride on Peter Obi’s national profile in search of a wider audience. What he cannot do is pretend that Senator Yari requires lectures from him on how to make political decisions.
“Yari does not need anybody to manufacture a national profile for him. His political record speaks for itself. More importantly, he enjoys something that evidently troubles the opposition today: the confidence of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the trust of the leadership of Africa’s largest political party to coordinate a presidential campaign across 36 states and the FCT,” the statement read.
The ruling party’s stakeholders urged Kwankwaso to concentrate on explaining the political contradictions within his own camp rather than attempting to choose a campaign director for President Tinubu.
“If Senator Yari were politically inconsequential, Kwankwaso would have ignored his appointment. Instead, before the campaign has even properly begun, he is publicly asking the APC Campaign Director-General to resign. That tells Nigerians far more about the significance of Yari’s appointment than anything we could possibly say.
“The opposition has seen the appointment. They have done their calculations. They understand the capacity, network and political reach that Senator Yari brings to this campaign. The anxiety has started early.
“Kwankwaso should save his advice for his own campaign. Senator Yari has an assignment, and by the grace of God, he will deliver it,” the stakeholders noted.
