By Vincent Kalu
Senator Uba Sani has emerged the All Progressives Congress (APC) consensus aspirant of key stakeholders for Kaduna State governorship election. This endorsement makes him the frontline aspirant in the coming primary where he would face other hopefuls that have bought the party forms.
One of the reliable power brokers in Kaduna APC, informed that Senator Sani is the gubernatorial aspirant that the supporters of incumbent Governor Nasir El-Rufai will back in the primary.
According to him, APC members are pleased with the development, which has given supporters a clear direction and united the party’s base.
He noted: “Persuasion, opinion polls, regular meetings and assessments were said to have all played a role in shaping the decision that has been broadly welcomed by APC members in Kaduna State. The process that led to the decision is another demonstration of El-Rufai’s leadership style. He made everyone conscious of the need for the team that has led the Kaduna APC to remain as one family and to continue the reforms that have brought remarkable gains in infrastructure, investments, and human capital development to the state.
“He showed us again that he is a leader that values consultation, allowing divergent opinions to be expressed and skillfully guiding stakeholders to a collective decision.
“El-Rufai is a leader guided by science, data and logic. This allows him to see beyond the emotions that cloud human relations and keep everyone focused on the goal, rather than unhelpful distractions.”
The source further disclosed that there were pressures by some of the aspirants to make their interest public much earlier in the year. But the aspirants deferred to El Rufai’s counsel that it was more urgent to first safeguard the corporate health and viability of the APC through a national convention before focusing on aspirations that could only be realised through a strong and united party. El-Rufai also admonished the team to prioritise securing a consensus among the aspirants when the time came for primaries.
“After the successful conclusion of the APC national convention, the Kaduna governorship aspirants revved up their engine. Senator Uba Sani and Muhammad Sani Abdullahi (Dattijo) publicly declared their interest in the job at about the same time, a development that created some confusion since they are regarded as members of the El-Rufai team. Shortly after, it also became known that the deputy governor, Dr. Hadiza Balarabe was consulting several key groups about the race. This led to expressions of serious concerns that having three aspirants for governorship from the El-Rufai team would divide party members and invite uncertainty about the outcome of the primaries.
“The sense of anxiety was said to have increased considerably as the viciousness the supporters of Uba and Dattijo launched against each other alarmed many party leaders, especially as each aspirant was saying that they had secured El-Rufai’s endorsement to run,” he said.
According to him, El-Rufai, senior party leaders and stakeholders were aware of this growing apprehension among APC members and had reminded all aspirants to educate their supporters that this was a democratic process within members of the same team. The Kaduna State governor was holding regular meetings with key personalities to reinforce the sense of team cohesion above the emerging ambitions.