Barring any last-minute change, former Kano State Governor, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, is concluding consultations to rejoin the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in a strategic calculation ahead of the 2027 general election.

The former Minister of Education and member of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) reportedly reached the decision after holding separate closed-door meetings with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano state.

The Guardian reliably gathered that Shekarau met with President Tinubu in Lagos during the Easter break at the invitation of the President, at the instance of some party stakeholders, in a strategic meeting aimed at strengthening APC’s grip in Kano.

Subsequently, Shekarau also received Governor Yusuf, alongside APC Chairman, Hon. Umar Haruna Doguwa, and the Commissioner for Transportation, Barr. Haruna Isa Dederi, at his Kano residence Sunday evening in what appeared to be a strategic move to woo another political powerhouse into the ruling party.

The Governor’s visit came two weeks after his erstwhile political godfather and leader of the Kwankwasiyya Movement, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, paid a similar courtesy visit to Shekarau at his Mundubawa residence, seeking fresh alignment in the opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC) against the ruling APC.

Although Kwankwaso may not have succeeded in securing Shekarau’s interest to join him in the opposition, the leader of the Kwankwasiyya Movement eventually secured the support of Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna, a strong ally of Shekarau and former Deputy Governor under Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, who has since joined Kwankwaso in the ADC.

Gawuna, who contested Governorship election under the APC against Governor Yusuf in NNPP resigned his Federal government appointment on the board of the Federal Mortgage Bank and subsequently picked the opposition ADC membership card.

The political equation in Kano took a dramatic shift in February when Governor Yusuf parted ways with his political benefactor in order to take full control of his political structure in the APC, following the persistent crisis in the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), the platform that brought him to power.

Although Governor Yusuf’s bold step to dump the NNPP was widely criticised by many disciples of the Kwankwasiyya Movement, the governor was eventually vindicated after Kwankwaso himself also left the NNPP for the ADC last week in what observers described as a broader strategy to strengthen his dwindling Kwankwasiyya structure and retain supporters who had already moved with Yusuf.

Shekarau, a leading figure in the Kabiru Taminu Turaki-led faction of the PDP, had recently defended Governor Yusuf’s defection to the APC against those who described the move as an act of betrayal of the trust reposed in him by Kwankwaso.

Malam, as he is fondly called, argued that Governor Yusuf should rather be commended for following the precedent earlier set by Kwankwaso, who is known for serial defection from one political platform to another.

Shekarau recalled how Kwankwaso defected from the PDP, the party that brought him to power in 2011 to the APC in 2013 without vacating his office as the sitting governor of Kano State.

In Shekarau’s words during a recent interview with a local radio station “When he (Kwankwaso) left the PDP for the APC, he took the governorship seat along with him. Why didn’t he surrender it to the PDP? In the same way, Abba can move the NNPP seat to the APC.”

Shekarau, a founding member of the APC, was forced to leave the ruling party after Kwankwaso joined and assumed leadership of the party structure in Kano. The former senator representing Kano Central later reunited with Kwankwaso in 2022 after leaving the APC. However, the political alliance between the two soon collapsed over disagreements on power sharing.

When contacted on the latest wave of political realignment, spokesperson to Malam Shekarau, Associate Professor Sule Yau Sule, told our correspondent in a telephone conversation that his principal regularly receives political heavyweights for consultations, including serving and former governors.

While confirming the recent meetings between Shekarau, Governor Yusuf, and President Tinubu, Prof. Sule said a final decision on Shekarau’s next political destination would be made public after the conclusion of consultations. (Guardian)