Katsina APC: The power of political structure

The Katsina State All Progressives Congress (APC) Campaign Council headed by Mustapha Inuwa has been acknowledged by the party’s national leadership as very efficient and result-oriented. AUGUSTINE OKEZIE highlights the factors that made the formidable structure a model and reference point in the ruling party.

THE recent general elections were very peaceful in Katsina State. The feat was clearly a departure from the 2011 and 2015 elections. Governor Aminu Bello Masari told visiting American Ambassador to Nigeria Mr Stuart Symington that the exercise was not only unprecedented, but also historic.

Masari reminded his visitor that the All Progressives Congress (APC) embarked on issue-based campaigns across the 34 local government areas in an atmosphere devoid of chaos.

He said: “What is historic about this year’s campaigns, which we ran throughout the 34 LGAs, is that we never had an incident of violence and also none of the young men and women following us carried a single arm.

“Likewise, when the president came, it was the biggest political gathering ever in Katsina State. No weapon or any harmful instruments were seen and he came, addressed the people and went to Daura, not even a motorcycle accident was recorded.”

“The APC government has given the opposition parties in the state a level-playing field to discharge their electioneering campaign, adding that his “administration has accorded all the facilities available that the opposition required when their presidential candidate came.”

The governor emphasised that his government will always protect the lives and property of the citizenry, irrespective of religious, tribal and political affiliations, adding that it was the responsibility of government to sustain peace in the state.

Many factors contributed to the succeess of the general elections in Katsina State including an efficient campaign structure and strategy, the  antecedents of the two leading parties, which tilted in favour of APC, and the influence of President Muhammadu Buhari.

 

Campaign structure and strategy:

The APC Campaign Council in Katsina State headed by Dr. Mustapha Mohammed Inuwa, no doubt gave the state a fresh breath of an enduring political culture which in the opinion of most observers represents a worthy legacy that will define future political activities.

At a press briefing, shortly after their inauguration, Inuwa outlined the objective of his team to not only hit the ground running with issue- based campaigns, but to approach the electorate with the record of accountability of government activities and to avoid the pitfalls of the past by steering the campaign fleet away from violent clashes with political opponents.

He said: “The state has about 3.2 m voters. We want to win by a landslide, and we want to have at least 80 per cent of the total number of votes.

“We are targeting no less than 2.8 million votes during the presidential election, that is because Katsina is an APC state and the state of Mr. President.”

According to him, the state gave the president 1.5 million votes in 2015 and surpassed the number in 2019.

The Chairman further urged people of the state to conduct themselves in an orderly manner during the electioneering campaigns and the election proper.

Inuwa, who is also the Secretary to Government and Chairman of the Security Committee, also had the Permanent Secretary, Muhammadu Buhari House, Alhaji Muntari Lawal as the Council’s Director General. The same people held the same offices in 2015 that ran the Restoration Project Campaign for the election of Masari.

 

Antecedents candidates:

Perhaps, the gross imbalance in the political antecedents of the two frontline gladiators which tilted in favour of Masari made the contest  predictable on where the pendulum of victory will swing. It even made the opponent almost willing to literally throw in the towel before the beginning of the contest.

The Executive Director, RUWASSA, Aminu Dayyabu Safana said that Masari and Lado are poles apart, adding that Masari’s antecedents and humble beginning, exposure, talents, experience and capacity are grossly incomparable with Yakubu Lado’s.

He said: “I don’t think they are match able, considering the measure of the peoples expectation on Masari, the downtrodden of Katsina who are more appeased in the past three and half years compared to the under-performance of Yakubu Lado especially as a former Chairman of a Local government, when Nigeria had a buoyant economy and a former Senator whose voice was never heard on the floor of the Senate.”

“I think the Governorship Election was already a walk over for Governor Masari, naturally, without sounding immodest, any right thinking person who had seen what the Governor had done, even his opponent will admit was a walk over in favor of the Governor.’’

“Masari’s achievement  had certainly spoken for him at the polls. He encouraged my agency to ensure efficient water supply and sanitation in the rural areas. He had never denied us our requests, nor interfered in the appointments of qualified personnel.’’

He described the governorship election that was held on March 9 as a walk over for the governor since, according to him, the opposition to the ruling APC in the state were completely decimated already.

He said: “The state is and will always remain an APC state. There is presently nobody with a reasonable political clout that is still remaining in PDP.”

Muhammad Bashir Ruwangodiya, a civil activist and Chairman Coalition of Civil Societies in Katsina State, observed that drawing a comparison between Masari and Lado should be based on three major parameters: their level of interaction and accessibility to the people, their political antecedents, and individual records of Integrity and achievements.

He maintained that, in terms of character, credibility, acceptance, experience and courage in meeting people’s demands, Masari towers high above Yakubu Lado, in addition to his objectivity, sincerity of purpose and fulfillment of promises made.

He said: “Masari is accessible to the common man, for instance, he drove to Sabuwar Unguwan Quarters by 1:00 am by himself without escorts to attend to a distress call to see things for himself.

“He exhibits quality leadership. I was one time in his convoy, at NNPC Mega station when he stopped to query a long fuel queue. He is deeply accessible to people and assists them even from his own pockets.”

“Masari demystified governance. Now the Government House is an accessible place for all people, big or small, unlike before.”

“The people had judged objectively and in fairness. I don’t belong to any political party, but as a citizen who has followed history and trends, a person with the people’s welfare at heart deserves re- election.”

Hajia Mariya Abdullah, a Katsina based female activist and veteran journalist, described the comparison being made between the two political gladiators as grossly unnecessary and annoying, saying that Lado can never be a match to Aminu Bello Masari, when each person’s antecedents are factored into the analysis.

She argued that rather than placing the incumbency factor as the burner and yardstick for measuring each of the candidate’s chances of electoral victory, their Political visibility and record of achievement should remain a primary consideration.

She said: “Masari has made serious impact on the empowerment of women with extended benefits. He implemented wise policies and programs that improved the lots of women across the 34 Local Government Areas.”

 

Gender sensitivity:

Hajia Abdullah further associated the establishment of several women groups and the appointment of women to lead ministries, departments and agencies as clear design by the Masari Administration to showcase the talents of women in the state.

She commended the rural development effort of the Governor and maintained that Women have remained key beneficiaries of Governor Masari’s programe and policies.

She identified the inability of Lado’s PDP to embark on statewide campaign to showcase their achievements and convince the people as clear manifestation and demonstration that the party is bereft of discernible programs and policies that will uplift the lives of the people.

Although Masari and Lado hail from the Funtua Senatorial Zone of the state that usually determines election outcomes because of their bloc votes. The Nation, which went on the campaigns, noted the seeming gap in terms of visibility, goodwill and support which massively swing in favor of APC dismisses any notion of political comparability between Masari and Lado.

The women who constitute 50 per cent of the state’s population represent a major voting bloc of the governor political power base. Not a few stakeholders agreed that the PDP’s greatest undoing was the neglect of women in the state and their in – effective mobilisation of that critical electoral asset.

While APC strongly carried the Katsina women along through the leadership of the Women Affairs Commissioner, Dr. Badiya Hassan Mashy, and the wives of the governor and other political leaders, PDP was glaringly missing in the fray.

 

Campaign strategy:

The Campaign strategies adopted by the Political parties that contested the elections in Katsina state remained varied where the APC openly displayed unbridled zeal and commitment of purpose while the PDP went nocturnal.

With the exception of APC and PDP, other invincible parties like PRP, ANRP, and NCP and so on were largely invincible and had no tangible campaign activities except for a few signboards that adorn a few local government areas in the state.

Some political analysts opine that his serial defections may count as disadvantage for his 2019 ambition. His supporters were however quick to counter that the impunity of the then National leadership of CPC compelled Lado to defect from that party to pursue his ambition.

 

Effects of presidential election:

Meanwhile the outcome of the February 23 Presidential and National Assembly Elections where the APC made a clean sweep of the available positions, which also threw the PDP into complete disarray, prompted poll watchers to rightly predict the remainder of the elections including that of governorship and state’s house of assembly elections will certainly go the way of APC even before the kick off.

 

Buhari’s Influence and Ideology:

Not a few Political watchers agree that the enduring integrity, political Ideology and influence of President Muhammadu Buhari, perhaps overshadowed both the conduct and the outcome of the polls in Katsina state

Buhari who is highly respected and adored in the ate was seen as a political role model and an influential factor.