By Ibraheem Musa:
In many ways, history repeated itself last Friday, when President Muhammadu Buhari went to Kaduna, in continuation of his presidential campaign tour across the country. Like always, the former capital of northern Nigeria stood still for Buhari, as residents waited for over 10 hours, under the scorching sun, for his arrival. As early as 6 am, people started trooping to Ahmadu Bello Stadium, the venue of the event, to take a vantage position where they will witness history. Around 2 pm, Ali Akilu road, Ahmadu Bello way and Junction road which lead to the stadium, were chocked up with people. Children, young men and women, including elderly people, took over the roads in order to catch a glimpse of their president.
At 4 pm, President Buhari arrived Kaduna airport but it took him an hour to reach the venue of the event. In fact, his motorcade inched its way very slowly, as his supporters were all over the road, trying to reach their hero as he waved at them. On November 4, 2014, a similar scenario had played out when General Muhammadu Buhari, as APC presidential aspirant, attended the formal declaration of Malam Nasir El Rufai to run for the governorship of Kaduna state.
Significantly, at the same 2014 declaration, General Buhari had raised the hands of El Rufai, declaring him as his anointed candidate. According to Buhari, he had personally asked El Rufai to contest for the governorship, in spite of the fact that the former FCT Minister wanted to work with him. At the event, Buhari had described El Rufai as a pragmatic and prudent manager of resources, who will be just to all the diverse people of Kaduna state. Last Friday, President Buhari also raised El Rufai’s hands and by so doing, the president has endorsed the governor’s re-election. Similarly, APC National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole also endorsed El Rufai last Friday, just as he did in 2014, when he was governor of Edo state.
Interestingly, history will not only repeat itself in 2019 but records will also be broken. According to El Rufai, Katsina, Kano and Kaduna states gave President Buhari 25 percent of his total score in 2015. Specifically, Kano state gave the highest votes of 1, 903,999 for the president. Equally, the president got 1, 345,441 votes in Katsina state and Kaduna state followed closely with 1,127, 760 votes about four years ago. Combined, the total votes of these states was 4, 377, 200, which is slightly above the 25 percent of Buhari’s total score of 15, 424, 921 across the country.
Significantly, Governor El Rufai promised that Katsina, Kano and Kaduna states will surpass their own collective record, by giving Buhari 30 percent of the total votes cast in their states this time around. In addition, he pledged that Kaduna state will give the president 80 percent of its votes. Indeed, these are not empty boasts, given the president’s anti-corruption crusade, payment of pension arrears and the various infrastructural upgrade across the country. In particular, these and many populist policies have endeared the president to the people.
In 2015, candidate Buhari had campaigned based on promises. By 2019, these promises of fighting corruption, tackling insecurity and improving the economy have been largely fulfilled. So, all things being equal, Governor Nasir El Rufai will get a befitting birthday gift on February 16, when President Buhari will get re-elected. On March 2, history will also repeat itself when he gets another four-year mandate as governor of Kaduna state.
Ibraheem Musa is with the Directorate of Strategic Communication of Kaduna State Chapter of APC Campaign Council.
