The main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Katsina State is angling for governorship office rather than some seats in the next cabinet which the All Progressives Congress (APC) governor-elect, Aminu Bello Masari, has promised to give opposition elements. In this report, ANDY ASEMOTA examines the disquiet in Katsina over the broad base government plan
The chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Katsina State chapter, Salisu Yusuf Majigiri, is blowing hot at the moment. His grouse: Governor Aminu Bello Masari’s plan to have an inclusive government in his second term in office with opposition faithful as members. The opposition party big wig sees the plan as affront on the PDP which he believes has the prospect of winning its suit before the governorship election tribunal in Katsina.
Masari had on March 29, this year, received certificate of return as governor-elect from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at the Local Government Service Commission conference hall, Katsina. Although the governor has some former members of the PDP, who defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), in his current cabinet, he promised at the event to appoint some members of opposition into his next cabinet.
The governor, who described election that gave another mandate on March 9, 2019, as historic in terms of voters’ massive turn out and the over one million votes he secured at the poll, vowed to shun the politics of ‘winner takes all,’ saying it is alien to the state.
Additionally, Masari noted that since all the contestants at the poll are kith and kin from the state, anybody from any of the opposition parties would be welcomed by his administration, having walked the talk from 2015 to 2019.
“Politics is not a matter of do or die, let alone elections. Elections come and go but nations and states remain,” the governor told the cream of Katsina that witnessed the ceremony.
However, there is growing disquiet in Katsina regarding Masari’s plan to appoint some opposition members into his next cabinet. Moreover, critics of the yet to unfold plan, particularly leaders of the PDP, believe they deserve better in terms of constituting the incoming administration. They submit, inter alia, that the PDP in the state deserves more respect from the governor, for example.
Majigiri, chairman of Katsina PDP and running mate to the governorship candidate of the party in this year’s election, reminded that if Masari wanted to talk to the opposition party, he wouldn’t have done so through the media instead of the process and practical way of communicating such arrangement.
To worsen matters, the PDP which has filed a petition against APC and Masari at the gubernatorial election tribunal considers the plan to appoint some of its faithful into APC-led government as an embarrassment to PDP and should be averted.
Speaking to LEADERSHIP Sunday, Majigiri maintained: “PDP as an opposition party is before the tribunal challenging the qualification of the APC candidate and the conduct of the election. We are hoping to be on the governorship seat and be looking for other parties to form government together. Since we are before the tribunal and we are very serious about it and we have all the evidence to prove our case, I think it’s premature for us to start listening to their inclusive government plan.
“If we don’t have the evidence to tender in the tribunal, we would have dropped the idea of going to court. Since we are before the tribunal, I don’t think he is referring to us; maybe he is referring to other political parties. If he is referring to us, he would have started with tackling the issue of litigation rather than appointment of some of our members into his proposed cabinet.
I think what is before us now is how to win the case before the tribunal.”
The leadership of the APC and PDP in the state seem to be in war of words over the plan by Masari to form an inclusive government as chieftains of the ruling party affirm implicit support to his promise of a broad base government.
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A high ranking APC source, who said he is not permitted to speak on the issue, confirmed to LEADERSHIP Sunday that they whole heartedly align with the governor’s progressive agenda as it’s a viable way to sustain the unity of the state.
“The government will foster credible and transparent governance which has been the hallmark of Masari’s administration, especially in sustaining the fight to restore the integrity of the state by lifting Katsina from cesspool of corruption,” he said.
The erstwhile law maker commended the visionary and dynamic leadership provided by the governor which, he said, has continued to drown the opposition in the state, and position the state in the front burner of national politics.
He appealed to APC faithful to ensure the success of the plan to welcome some members of the opposition into the next cabinet for the continued progress of the state.
He further said it is uncharitable for PDP chairman in the state to only be concerned about the opposition’s petition when every fact however points to the suit being mauled to death for lack of substance.
Meanwhile, the press secretary to Governor Masari, Abdul Labaran Malumfashi, had praised the broad base government arrangement in the state, arguing that the plan reflected the large hearted leadership Katsina has been blessed with since 2015.
The senior special assistant to the governor on media, who made the submission in an interview with our correspondent, asked rhetorically: “In any case, what is left of the opposition in the state? I don’t think there is much left in the main opposition party, the PDP, except perhaps, the governorship candidate and his running mate. Apart from them, who else of note is in PDP? Nobody.
“Perhaps, the governorship candidate and his running mate may be invited to be in the inclusive government. Katsina is more or less a one party state. If the governor said he is going to have an inclusive government that is just stating the obvious. Everybody seems to be in the ruling party.”
He said Masari deserves commendation for establishing not only a legacy of magnanimity and politics without bitterness but also displaying vital attributes political leaders should be endowed with.
According to him, the governor is not self-centered but genuinely committed to the cause of his people just as the two late Northern leaders in the first republic, Tafawa Balewa and Sir Ahmadu Bello.
Malumfashi posited: “Masari carries people along whether they are for him or against him. I am sure not everybody who is in his government was supportive of the governor, even if they were in the ruling party. Not all of them were with him. I am sure some were supporters of other aspirants and it made no difference to him; he brought them along, I don’t want to be specific. There are some people who are in the cabinet whose godfathers were not with him; they were his opponents but he still carried them along.”
With this, he emphasised, the existing cabinet of the governor is an all-inclusive team already. However, many PDP supporters in the state have warned the APC to steer away from the opposition party. They are of the opinion that the attempt to establish a broad base government is intended to further undermine the PDP in Katsina.
“Our members cannot directly or indirectly participate in APC-led government. The plan is politically motivated emotional blackmail,” Danladi Shehu, a teacher in Katsina metropolis, enthused.
His colleague, Abdulkadir Musa, however accused PDP enthusiasts of seeming blindness to magnanimity of Masari administration despite the clean sweep of all seats contested in the state from 2015 to date by the APC and the influx into the party by virtually all eminent opposition figures across the state.
“The phenomenal votes polled the APC and the growth of the party since 2015 showed how well the party is doing and also the administrations under its control at the state and federal levels. In proclaiming broad base government and many more, the message from the governor to the opposition and the people of the state is that they are seen and treated as partners,” the tutor declared.
