2019: BUHARI, PRESIDENCY PLOTS TO DUMP EL-RUFAI FOR SHA'ABAN THICKENS
Presidency sources in the know, have exposed a grand plot to field another candidate on the party's platform due to.what has been described as a relationship gone sour between the Kaduna state governor, Nasir el-Rufai with the presidency.
The race to Sir Kashim Ibrahim House, seat of the Kaduna State Government, has taken a new dimension following a split in the party leadership with many prominent elders dumping the party due to.what they described as the over reaching attitude of the state governor and his unfriendly policies.
This acrimony recently resulted in the state losing its bid for the World Bank loan of $350m as the request was rejected totally by the Senate of the National Assembly with the three senators refusing to back the governor's bid.
According to reliable information gathered from Aso Villa sources, the Kaduna State Governor is reported to be losing the backing and confidence of President Muhammadu Buhari and other top party elders in his bid to seek a second term in office.
Alhaji Sani Shaaban, a frontline member of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP has been revealed to be the likely replacement for el-Rufai for.the gubernatorial ticket of the APC,come 2019.
Sani Sha'aban, a former member of the House of Representatives in 2003, contested for the governorship ticket of the ANPP in 2007 and also under the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN in 2011 but lost, is reported to have the full backing of Presidency bigwigs like Mamman Daura, Ismail Funtua and Alh. Sani Z Daura, among others.
Sources revealed that a closed door meeting between Sha'aban and the President in the villa, held last week, although, the details of the meeting has remained sketchy, it was disclosed that it was resolved that Elrufai cannot deliver in 2019 because of his unpopular policies and programmes which has pitched the party against the electorates in the state
With this development, stakeholders have expressed their concerns for the party with the emergence of this information of a Sani Sha'aban as a likely alternative candidate.
His political pedigree notwithstanding, stakeholders have wondered where the likes of Alhaji Haruna Yunusa Sae'ed; a man of impeccable character and resolve, grassroots acceptability and forthrightness will be, if the APC chooses to go for Sha'aban.
Haruna Sae'ed, according to available reports, is a strong ally of President Muhammadu Buhari and has the capacity to deliver the votes if given the go ahead as he has been variously described as a governorship material with strong acceptability in the three senatorial districts of the state.
It will be recalled that in 2011, Haruna Sae'ed ran for governor under the Congress for Progressive Change which many have said he won the election but was schemed out by the powers that be.
However, Governor el-Rufai is reported to be reaching out to the APC national leader, Senator Bola Tinubu and other notable party leaders to intervene on his behalf.
Until the APC wakes up to the realities that aggrieved members of the party needs to be placated and brought into the main stream of things in the state, it chances remain bleak as the 2019 elections draw closer.
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