Insight: Fallout of 2019 General Elections: Southern Kaduna People May Dump PDP

#TrackNigeria – The people of Southern Kaduna are “seriously” reconsidering their more than 20 years of unalloyed support for the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), following several perceived ill- treatment meted out to the area in the just concluded 2019 General Elections,in which the Area stood solidly behind Atiku Abubakar the presidential candidate of the party and Isa Ashiru the Kaduna  State governorship candidate of the party.

The decision to reconsider the relationship which has cost the Southern Kaduna people political capital has been  triggered by the failure of Isa Ashiru,Senator Ahmed Makarfi,Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi and other top notchers of the party to deliver the Northern Zones in both elections.There is even more worry because of hints that political stakeholders from the northern part of the state  consistently  controlled more than a lion share in the financial resources deployed by Atiku Abubakar the presidential candidate of the party.The war chest deployed to Kaduna by Atiku  is  believed to be in the region of N1.4 billion. The Turakin Adamawa has  never hidden his desire to become president of Nigeria and the defeat Nasir El Rufai the incumbent governor.

“We have been called fools by the PDP leadership in the state and our support for the party taken for granted. The disproportionate sharing of the resources for the presidential and governorship elections is the straw that has broken the camel’s  back. We understand that Atiku sent N1.4 billion and the entire Southern Kaduna which has consistently delivered the votes got only a paltry N100m, the same amount that was deployed to only Kudan Local Government- the home Local Government ” claimed some party members from the South.

Gora Dauda Albehu, a fierce critic of the PDP believes that the Southern Kaduna has been so treated because of certain individuals who have sold the area for a pot of porridge. The other reason being advanced to explain why the Southern Kaduna was so treated was the indications that all it wanted was “the defeat of Nasir El – Rufai”,who is passionately hated by the South. “In Southern Kaduna itself politically, there are many very … individuals masquerading as political elders or stakeholders who are always too ready to sell away the people,” Gora said.

The anger of most Southern Kaduna members of the PDP is fuelled by  revelations that Isa Ashiru the defeated candidate had, contrary to the agreement signed with Southern Kaduna Peoples Union(SOKAPU) and the Rev. Joseph Hayab led Christian Association  of Nigeria(CAN),  “appointed” the State Secretary of the party Alhaji Wusono as Secretary to the State Government,a key position that the Southern Kaduna had demanded as part of the conditions for its support.

“Our hatred for Nasir El- Rufai blinded us in our unquestioning support for Isa Ashiru and the emerging  facts indicate that Southern Kaduna would have regretted its support for him. And he  was already becoming arrogant” said a party member.

Gora, like many other members of the party hold  the battle for control of the state between Senator Ahmed Makarfi , one-time governor of the state, and Suleiman Hunkuyi  largely responsible for the electoral travails of the party. As their battle for control lingers, “Southern Kaduna has held on to the PDP as if it is a religion” This source believes the Southern Kaduna has helped to sustain Makarfi’s influence in the state.Sadly, despite this support, there has been little funding  for  Southern Kaduna.

Some insiders disclosed that in the light of the unfolding reality, the options open to the Southern Kaduna people in the light of the PDP treatment of the area include  reaching a reproachment  with Nasir El -Rufai who has offered them a hand of friendship,especially as the Southern Kaduna people’s political calculations haven’t quite worked out. The expected PDP victory at the national level hasn’t materialized,meaning the elite would be shut out for another four   years at both the state and federal level. The area has seen the deputy Governorship position which it use to take for granted slip off its hands. Though the deputy governor elect is from the area – the election of Nasir El Rufai indicates a new alliance in the state of core Muslim North candidates and native southern Muslims.

“The largely Christian South has been thrown into political confusion and its survival depends on how it reacts to the political realities. It can decide to continue its fight against El-Rufai or reconcile him.”a party member said.