•What City People Found Out
It is no longer news that a third force is already set out to battle the PDP and APC ahead 2023 general elections, and that the movement has been championed by top politicians from both parties. The dynamics and operational modality of the third force have however become the issue of national interest as Nigerians are beginning to ask what the movement intends to bring to the table, known for the fact that the initiators once belonged to either the APC or the PDP.
Former Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, who is the convener and the face of the movement, said the formation of the Third Force was borne out of the need to reposition the country from the grip of politicians who do not see beyond the election. Eng, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso spoke extensively on politics today with Seun Okinbaloye on why he feels both major parties, to which he once belonged, had failed Nigeria on all sides.
He said, “Truly there are some serious challenges, I was a member of PDP in 1998 when it was established. By 1999 I was a governor of Kano, then a minister of defence, and later was in NDC board, and I realised there were issues and therefore there was a need to correct those mistakes. That was why in 2015, we decided that there will be some political changes in this country. That was when my humble self and four other governors teamed up, and we worked for the APC and the party succeeded, believing that we would have positive change, but unfortunately, many people believe that the PDP was even better, the very PDP that we came to remove. Even the PDP now knows that they had so many issues but even the APC has more issues. With the existing structure, it will be difficult for anybody to believe in free and fair elections.
This is why there have been voter apathy since 1999, every successive year, it has always been a case of reduction in numbers of voters because they no longer believe in the electoral system as orchestrated by these two parties.
So we want to see what will happen in a couple of weeks and see if they will show any sign of transparency, as we have an established movement to tame them.
Even on the side of Kwankwasiya, we have a representation in every part of Nigeria, every house. Many people will not know our strength, in fact, we want people to even underrate us.
At this point, we have many Nigerians who are worried about the situation and are equally concerned and are willing to team up with us and many other interest groups who desire a true change for this country”.
When asked about his willingness to work with any other presidential candidates, if he’s not fielded as a presidential candidate, he said his experience as a presidential aspirant in 2015 and 2019 under the APC and PDP respectively, has shown him that elections in Nigeria are mainly about the arrangement. He narrated how the parties at both times had other arrangements other than the legal electioneering process that should field a popular candidate for the party.
He said:
“I joined the APC in 2014 and along the line, I realised that there were heavy arrangements at that particular time, and those of us who were individuals going round to campaign were just wasting our time. In the end, it was the other arrangements that we never knew about that was adopted, that was in 2015.
“So also in 2019, in Port Harcourt. All of us went there, I went round all the states of the country including Abuja, but Friday, a day before the election, there were some people who were again, under the arrangement. This is the direction of the election at that particular time. That is why some of us are worried, because we have seen many people who genuinely want to play fairly in the process, but fall short of the superior arrangements. So the third force is here to create a fair platform for the genuine Nigerians who want contest fairly.”
Engineer Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has spent no fewer than 30 years in politics. In 1992, Kwankwaso made his entry into politics on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). He was a member of the People’s Front faction of the SDP led by General Shehu Yar’adua and other popular politicians such as Senator Magaji Abdullahi, Babagana Kingibe, Atiku Abubakar, Bola Tinubu, Tony Anenih, Chuba Okadigbo, Abdullahi Aliyu Sumaila, Abubakar Koko and Lamidi Adedibu amongst others.
In the same year, Kwankwaso was elected as a member of the House of Representatives representing Madobi Federal Constituency. His subsequent election as deputy speaker in the House brought him to the limelight of national politics. During the 1995 Constitutional Conference, Kwankwaso was elected as one of the delegates from Kano, as a member of the People’s Democratic Movement led by Yar’Adua. He later joined the Democratic Party of Nigeria (DPN) in the political transition program of General Sani Abacha.
Kwankwaso joined the PDP in 1998 under the platform of the People’s Democratic Movement in Kano led by Mallam Musa Gwadabe, Senator Hamisu Musa and Alhaji Abdullahi Aliyu Sumaila. In 1999, he contested the PDP primaries alongside Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, Mukthari Zimit, Alhaji Kabiru Rabiu. The Santsi/P.S.P. were behind the candidature of Abdullahi Umar Ganduje but they lost to Kwankwaso in the primaries.
He later became a defence minister in 2004 after he lost his second term bid to Ibrahim Shekarau.
Kwankwaso was re-elected for a second term in office as governor of Kano State from 29 May 2011 to 29 May 2015. He contested for the presidency at the primary level but lost to Mohammadu Buhari in 2015, and later lost again to Atiku Abubakar in 2019 under the PDP.
– Joseph Seun Emmanuel
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