A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Chairman of Kano Municipal Council, Faizu Alfindiki, on Tuesday said former Kano State Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, no longer commands decisive electoral influence in Kano State.
Alfindiki spoke in Kano while addressing APC social media influencers, where he reacted to ongoing political discussions about a possible alliance between Kwankwaso and former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
He said such discussions should not cause concern within the ruling APC, insisting that past election results in Kano do not support claims that Kwankwaso can single-handedly deliver presidential votes.
According to him, former President Muhammadu Buhari consistently recorded high votes in Kano based on personal popularity rather than political structures allegedly controlled by Kwankwaso.
“In 2003, Buhari secured about 1.6 million votes in Kano, yet Kwankwaso, who was governor under the PDP, could not deliver the state to Olusegun Obasanjo,” Alfindiki stated. “The same thing happened in 2007 when Buhari again recorded massive votes while the PDP controlled the government.”
He added that in 2011, Buhari polled around 1.6 million votes in Kano despite the presence of then governor Ibrahim Shekarau on the ballot, noting that Kwankwaso still failed to deliver Kano to former President Goodluck Jonathan.
“Even Kwankwaso himself benefited from Buhari’s political momentum in 2011 to reclaim the governorship,” he said. “Without Buhari’s northern base, the story of that election could have been different.”
Alfindiki also referred to the 2019 general elections, stating that Buhari secured over 1.4 million votes in Kano while candidates backed by Kwankwaso under the Peoples Democratic Party lost the three senatorial seats and failed to win any House of Representatives seat in the state.
He further said Kwankwaso’s performance in the 2023 presidential election weakened claims about his electoral dominance in Kano.
“As a presidential candidate, he scored below one million votes in his own state. That clearly shows the limits of his political reach,” he said.
The APC chieftain accused Kwankwaso of overstating his political influence after the former governor claimed on national television that he delivered 1.9 million votes to Buhari in the 2015 presidential election.
“Nobody denies Kwankwaso’s relevance in Kano politics, but history does not support the idea that he controls presidential voting patterns in the state,” Alfindiki added.
He maintained that the APC remains confident ahead of the 2027 general elections, saying the party’s political structure in Kano and across the northern region remains intact.
