2023: Kaduna PDP Celebrates, Boasts Of Victory As El-Rufai Endorses Uba Sani, Lawmaker In Alleged Sex Video, As Successor
The Kaduna State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has boasted of clinching victory at the 2023 governorship election in the state after Governor Nasir El-Rufai unveiled his preferred successor.
El-Rufai had recently endorsed Senator Uba Sani, the lawmaker representing Kaduna Central in the National Assembly, as his ‘anointed’ successor in 2023.
The governor subsequently called on his loyalists to support Sani in the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary.
PDP stalwarts and supporters across the state believe that El-Rufai’s endorsement of the senator, believed to be unpopular, provides it with high prospects of securing the governorship in the 2023 elections.
Sani became unpopular in areas of the state dominated by Muslims in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when a viral video showed him coming out of the bathroom after allegedly having sex with a young lady in a hotel.
The lady who recorded him naked without his knowledge later shared the video with her friends who then sent it to Sani’s political opponents.
It is understood that while close associates of El-Rufai such as Sani Dattijo, who himself was a governorship hopeful, accepted the decision, and agreed to purchase the form for Kaduna Central Senatorial District, as directed by the governor, other APC aspirants in the state dissociated themselves from the so-called “consensus”.
Sani Sha’aban, a former member of the House of Representatives, who has bought the expression of interest and nomination forms for the position of governor, is aggressively opposing the decision with hopes of using his connections in the Presidential Villa to get the ticket.
His son, Mohammed Sha’aban married President Muhammadu Buhari’s youngest daughter, Hanan in 2020.
Another top contender, Bashir Jamoh, the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), the father-in-law to President Buhari’s Personal Assistant, Yusuf “Tunde” Sabiu, is also seeking to use his Presidential Villa connection to grab the ticket.
He has also opposed the governor’s endorsement of the scandalous Senator Sani.
The Deputy Governor of the state, Hadiza Balarabe has rejected an offer to deputise for Sani.
While her reasons for turning it down are not clear, it is believed that she is trying to avoid the stigma that will come with being paired with the senator.
In addition, it is suspected in some quarters that it may seem to her like an intellectual demotion to be asked to deputise for someone like Senator Sani after working with El-Rufai.