Kwankwaso is running a cult – Shekarau

A former governor of Kano State, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, has said that the defection of the state Governor, Alhaji Rabiu Kwakwanso, notwithstanding, the Peoples Democratic Party remains strong in the state.
Shekarau, who spoke with State House correspondents after a meeting with Vice President Namadi Sambo, also accused his successor of running a cult-like movement christened ‘Kwankwasiya’.
While pledging his loyalty to the PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan, the two-term governor of Kano, elected on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, said he left the All Progressives Congress because of the way it is being run.
On the 2015 elections, Shekarau said he would campaign for Jonathan should he win the PDP primaries, adding that he does not subscribe to the Presidency shifting to the North at all cost.
Asked why he was at the State House, he said: “It was not a special meeting.
“It was a continuation of rubbing of mind.
“I am now part and parcel of the PDP family.
“I will always be meeting with one party functionary or the other to continue to rub minds on how we will move the party and the nation forward.”
On Kwakwanso’s defection to APC, he had this to say: “His defection cannot kill PDP.
“Those current with situation on ground knew that the governor of Kano had long before now been out of PDP.
“What he is running is Kwankwasiya, a cultism kind of a group.
“PDP has always been there.
“So what we are doing is we are now joining PDP and his group has gone into APC.
“We shall see whether we are the ones on ground or the Kwankwasiya APC.
“We checked out from the APC when we discovered that some of the principal actors in the merger did not mean well.
“I have always argued that these parties are one and the same.
“It is all about Nigeria and Nigerians.
“It is all about what we do to move the nation forward.
“Everybody is talking about serving Nigerians.
“We are all heading to the same destination.
“The only difference is that we are taking different routes.
“As far as I am concerned, I am just continuing to make myself available to serve humanity regardless of the platform.
“I have never subscribed to the argument of localizing the Presidency to a particular region.
“If you had followed my arguments and my presentations or debates in the presidential election, I said so.
“My concern is what do we do to get the right leadership regardless of where it is coming from.
“This issue of rotational presidency is not the issue.
“What we should be talking about is balancing so that we carry people along.
“Today, if I am a presidential candidate from Kano and I tell you that my running mate is from Katsina, won’t you think I am crazy?
“Do I have to have that written in any document or constitution for me to know that if I am a presidential candidate from Kano, my running mate has to come from the other side?
“There is the law and constitution of common sense.
“So, this argument that it has to be my turn and it has to be my village man is all rubbish.
“It is the problem of lack of confidence among ourselves Nigerians.
“I am prepared to campaign for the PDP and whoever turns out to be the candidate of PDP at any level is my candidate.”