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Kano guber race: Can Takai make a difference in 2019?

Close to three years into the 4-year tenure of the elected public officials, political activities in Kano State have started tilting towards the 2019 general…

Close to three years into the 4-year tenure of the elected public officials, political activities in Kano State have started tilting towards the 2019 general elections with a number of prospective governorship aspirants emerging virtually on daily basis.

 

So far, about 30 members of the two major political parties, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have indicated interest to vie for the position of governor in the next general elections. 

Although some of the contenders are seen as can be mere jokers, there are others who are serious about the contest and are getting ready to compete for votes at the polling units come 2019. Daily Trust on Sunday discovered that the majority of the aspirants are first timers, while a few have tried their luck in the previous elections. 

Malam Salihu Sagir Takai is one of the numerous members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kano State who are expected to contest the governorship seat in 2019. Takai is a two-time contender for the seat. He contested in 2011 and 2015.

In 2011, he ran on the platform of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), but was defeated by Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso of the PDP, who contested the seat for his second tenure. Takai was defeated with about 48,000 votes.

Also in 2015, Takai re-contested under the PDP umbrella, but lost the bid to the incumbent governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, of the All Progressives Congress. During the poll, Takai came second with over 500,000 votes as against the over one million votes scored by Ganduje.

So far, Takai, like other governorship aspirants, has not declared for 2019. However, the political views circulating in the state have indicated that the two-time governorship candidate will surely join the race once he gets the mandate of the party. 

Daily Trust on Sunday gathered that about 15 PDP members had indicated interest to vie for the governorship ticket to participate in the forthcoming general elections. Takai is among the few who are considered competent and reliable to get the party’s ticket. 

Pundits say despite the sizable number of prospective governorship contenders in the PDP, Takai is considered among the five topmost aspirants who with chances of getting the mandate of the party. Others include Ibrahim Al-Amin Little, Bello Hayatu Gwarzo, Mohammed Abacha and Akilu Sani Indabawa.

However, Takai is being considered as aspirant with multiple chances of securing the mandate of the party above other contenders for some reasons. First of all, he has enough exposure to compete favorably with the candidates of other political parties, having contested the position two times in the past. Secondly, he is seen as the best saleable candidate among all other aspirants who have so far indicated their interests for the seat. Thirdly, he is the best when it comes to the issue of leadership qualities because of some good leadership qualities he had exhibited, while he was commissioner for water resources, local government and chieftaincy affairs. 

A simple, quiet and prudent politician, Takai’s transparent attitude in governance has earned him respect from both the PDP and the APC bigwigs in the state. Also, because of his tolerance and accommodating behavior, he is being called by many politicians as ‘friend to all and enemy to none’, while some referred to him as a ‘tested and trusted’ politician. 

A former chairman of Takai Local Government Area of Kano State, Takai contested and won the chairmanship election of his local government of origin three times. Firstly, he won in an open ballot system of election on the platform of the defunct All Peoples Party (APP) in 1999.

Daily Trust on Sunday learnt that Salihu Sagir Takai and Alhaji Abdullahi Sani Rogo were the only candidates that won the election on the platform of the rested major opposition political party, APP. While Takai won in Takai Local Government, Rogo emerged winner in Rogo Local Government Area. 

Takai also re-contested for chairmanship and won for the second and third time on the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party platform. Some of his achievements as chairman, Daily Trust on Sunday gathered, included the drilling of one borehole and the building of mosque and Islamiyyah School in each district area across the local government. He was also said to have recorded tremendous successes in the areas of health, agriculture and infrastructure. 

He was equally said to have achieved successes in his re-orientation programme by sensitising commercial sex-workers across major towns in the local government. It was said that he succeeded in marrying off a number of them during his tenure. He donated cash and furniture to such repented commercial sex-workers. 

After three tenures as chairman, Takai moved to the state level, where he became the state treasurer of the defunct ANPP. When the party formed a government in 2003, he was appointed commissioner of water resources. 

As a commissioner of water resources, he supervised the construction of about N5bn Tamburawa water treatment plant, the biggest water treatment plant in Africa. After the completion of the project, Takai returned an excess of over N100m to Kano State government coffers. This single action earned him respect not only from the former governor of the state, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, and top government officials, but also from the good people of Kano State.

After the re-election of Malam Shekarau as governor in 2007, Takai was retained as commissioner, but moved from water resources ministry to that of local government and chieftaincy affairs. He remained there till the expiration of Shekarau’s second tenure. During the 2011 general elections, his party, the defunct ANPP fielded him as governorship candidate, but lost the bid to Senator Kwankwaso.

Takai was among the politicians who struggled hard for the formation of the ruling. After the formation of the APC, he remained in the party until when a crisis between his political mentor, Malam Shekarau and Senator Kwankwaso made the atmosphere uncomfortable for them to stay in the party. Following the persistent political squabble between the two politicians, Shekarau, and his political associates and supporters, including Takai dumped the APC and joined PDP. 

After joining the PDP, Takai was again fielded as the gubernatorial candidate of the party in the 2015 general elections, but he lost the bid to the incumbent governor Ganduje of the APC.

Although Takai has a brighter future in the PDP, political pundits believe that the two times gubernatorial candidate have a long path to cross before he can get the mandate of the party to contest the governorship election in the state. 

According to them, with the caliber of politicians currently jostling for the ticket, Takai will face some difficulties in beating contenders such as Ibrahim Al-Amin Little, Mohammed Abacha, Imam Salisu Buhari, Akilu Sani Indabawa and the rest of others who also have influences to secure the party’s ticket.

With the interesting politics that is taking place within the Kano PDP in the search of a competent flag bearer who can represent the party in the 2019 general elections, the question that is still begging for answers is: Can Takai make a difference in the 2019 gubernatorial contest? 

 

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