There is no contesting the fact that the Katsina State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) under the leadership of taciturn Governor Aminu Bello Masari, a shrewd strategist, played key role in consolidating the victory of the governing party in the just concluded general elections at both the state and the national level.
With a population of over six million people out of which three million, five hundred and sixteen thousand, seven hundred and nineteen (3, 516, 719) are registered voters, Katsina State is naturally a beautiful bride to an average politician.
Perhaps, this underscores the reason why political gladiators across the divide did all they could to tap from Katsina’s huge vote bank.
Expectedly, critical stakeholders of the governing APC never rested on their oars all through the period of the electioneering campaigns for the 2023 polls. They worked relentlessly and assiduously towards ensuring a resounding victory for the party, and the rest, as it is often said, is now history. APC won resoundingly!
To understand the prominent role played by the Katsina APC in ensuring the party’s victory, it is necessary to speak to the facts. Whereas PDP scored 489,041 and APC scored 482,283 in the presidential election, APC swept all the three senatorial seats and nine out of the 15 House of Representatives seats in the state.
In a bid to reaffirm the state’s position as an APC stronghold, critical stakeholders of the party under Governor Aminu Bello Masari’s leadership worked tirelessly and in the end delivered the APC’s gubernatorial ticket, with the party’s flagbearer, Dikko Umar Radda, polling 859,892 votes to beat Senator Yakubu Lado of the PDP who came a distant second with 486,620.
In the governorship poll, there was a wide margin of 373,272 votes, perhaps the widest margin of victory in the 2023 governborship elections across Nigeria.
Interestingly, APC also won 31 of the 34 seats in the Katsina State House of Assembly, with clear prospects of clinching the remaining three seats scheduled for a rerun.
Some facts are incontrovertible, including the widely held status of Katsina as an APC state where the party’s stakeholders have earned a mark through dogged commitment to uplifting the party across board.
With the elections won and lost and the winners across board settling down for the task of forming a new government at both the national and subnational levels, it is only fitting to emphasise the need to reward hard work.
At the national level, all eyes are on President-elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who has told Nigerians in clearer terms that he will form a government of national competence to be populated by skilled Nigerians from all walks of life.
Essentially, Nigerians expect from Tinubu a robust cabinet that will reflect competence, regional, religious and ethnic balance without undermining the need to reward APC gladiators across Nigeria in a measure that is commensurate with their contributions, which culminated in the party’s resounding victory at the polls.
Undoubtedly, next to winning the elections by the APC, this is the trickiest part of the political journey of the APC and the Tinubu presidency. It will require the highest political skills and experience to navigate through the ongoing power game behind closed doors.
Interestingly, Tinubu is neither a novice nor an accidental political actor at the national stage. He is a tactical politician who has been playing the game for decades and has earned a mark as someone who always rewards hard work. However, it is not out of place to discuss numerous considerations the former Lagos governor may have to make to give Nigerians the kind of cabinet they are expecting from his incoming administration.
Nonetheless, it is apt to say that part of the considerations for forming a team that will support the president-elect in delivering his campaign promises to Nigerians should include reward for hard work.
The North West, which is home to Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara, is unquestionably a major deciding factor in Nigerian politics. It is the “vote basket” that every presidential candidate hopes to fetch enough votes from to clinch the coveted office of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Of these seven states, Katsina, Kano and Kaduna are considered more critical in strategic political planning due their huge population base, economic, political viability and geographical centrality. Perhaps, this explains why many political observers are expressing optimism that these three “K-States,” will reap huge patronage from the Tinubu administration commensurate to their unflinching loyalty and huge political investments in the Tinubu project.
To say many political observers are expecting “Grade A” appointments for the states of Kano, Katsina and Kaduna is to say the least in the mildest way. Observers are also expecting a very stiff computation in deciding what goes to which state and to whom.
This makes it imperative for Tinubu to be meticulous in identifying and rewarding gladiators from the three states. Every variable should be put on the table to share rewards based on contributions. This is where performances of the three states and individual performances of political actors in the states should be a key guide in determining who gets what.
It is incontestable that Katsina APC under the leadership of Governor Masari came out of the 2023 presidential/National Assembly elections with impressive performance considered as second to none in the zone.
Although APC lost Katsina State in the presidential elections to the PDP with a very slim margin of “6,758” due to anti-party activities of well-disguised moles in the party, the party made up for the not too impressive outing with the remarkable victory in the National Assembly elections.
The feat achieved by APC under the focused leadership of Governor Masari in Katsina is as impressive as it is a result of the governor’s hard work and unflinching loyalty to Tinubu. Masari stood with Tinubu through thick and thin, defying seemingly insurmountable challenges to keep the Katsina APC family focused on making sure Tinubu emerges president-elect.
From the presidential primary where Katsina APC gave Tinubu block votes to emerge the APC presidential candidate to the general elections, Governor Masari, on his own accord, has relentlessly swayed his governor colleagues to shift the presidency to not only the South but to Asiwaju in particular.
The huge margin of victory recorded by the APC in the gubernatorial elections is indicative of the commitment and hard work invested in the campaigns by Governor Masari and governor-elect, Dr. Dikko Radda.
As the president-elect considers Nigerians for key positions, Katsina State should be given priority because of the contributions of the state to the victory, which we are all savouring now.
– Jargaba writes from Bakori town, Bakori LG of Katsina state
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