Muazu Magaji, a former Kano State Commissioner for Works under Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, speaks with ALEXANDER OKERE about his disagreement with the governor as well as the reasons why the ruling All Progressives Congress lost the March 25 governorship election.
Given the importance of the state in the North-West, many Nigerians thought the governorship race in Kano State to be interesting. What did you think of the results of that exercise?
I think Kano has served as the political hub and nerve center of northern Nigeria, as was to be expected. Given that (Senator Rabiu) Kwankwaso is from Kano, it is not unexpected that his party, the New Nigeria Peoples Party, enjoys a significant lead there.
Generally speaking, given the All Progressives Congress’s past, we are not shocked by what transpired. Since the 2019 (general elections), there have been issues with the APC’s leadership, which we have brought to His Excellency (Abdullahi) Ganduje’s attention. Most of these (APC officials) lost their constituencies, yet they were still rewarded.
The APC’s leadership is the second component, while the governor’s management of the state in terms of development and opportunity distribution is the third. Additionally, his family was permitted to meddle in government issues in an unplanned manner. People didn’t like that fashion. The result of everything was losing that 20%. Because of this, Kano elections are always decided by a razor’s edge: either the victor receives one million votes, or the loser receives 800,000. You must be cautious while dealing with Kano since it is a state that is quite strongly split if you want to prevail.