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Masari plots to succeed Yar
Masari plots to succeed Yar’Adua
LAWAL SAIDU, Katsina
The Speaker
of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari, may have begun moves
aimed at perfecting strategies to succeed the incumbent governor of Katsina
State, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’adua in 2007. Although the Speaker is yet to make
his intention known to the public, recent events in the state seem to be
suggesting that.
Observers say that there are two major
reasons why the Speaker is pursuing his gubernatorial ambition secretly. Some
argue that he is keeping sealed lips over his ambition for fear of some powerful
forces in the state that may possibly undermine his plans. The second theory is
that the Speaker, for now, wants to concentrate on his plum job as the head of
the House of Representatives.
But whatever the game plan of the Speaker,
the fact remains that there are strong indications that the man is interested in
the governorship job and may have started weaving some strategies towards
actualising it.
The Chairman of the House of
Representatives committee on education, Dr. Garba Matazu, recently let the cat
out of the bag while presenting exercise books to Local Councils in the southern
part of the state. Distributing the books on behalf of the Speaker to the
benefitting Local Governments in Funtua, Dr. Garba made it categorically clear
to the gathering that the southern part of the state, comprising 11 out of the
34 Local Governments in the state will unanimously present Alhaji Masari as
their gubernatorial aspirant for the 2007 elections. He also went further to
canvass the zone’s support for the Masari project.
Apart from Dr. Matazu’s pronouncement, our
Correspondent reliably gathered that the Speaker recently held a secret meeting
with 26 Local Government Chairmen in the state, where a source revealed that the
Chairmen were briefed on his gubernatorial ambition.
Another move made by the Speaker towards
making sure that his ambition sails through, is the formation of contact groups
who are operating secretly, canvassing for support for the Masari 2007 project.
One of those contacted who spoke on condition of anonymity, told our
Correspondent that the aim of the contact groups is "to sell the idea of Masari
Project, have contacts in all local governments in the state and mobilise people
especially those in the PDP for the actualization of the project".
Daily Champion
reliably gathered that the Speaker has organised a dinner for prominent Katsina
indigenes residing in Abuja. At the dinner a source told our Correspondent that
a close aide of the Speaker told the gathering that the essence of inviting them
was for the Speaker to meet with them, unfold his gubernatorial ambition and
seek their support.
Masari was also appointed as Dallatin
Katsina, a traditional title by the Emir of Katsina. With this new title
added to his feather, the Speaker can now use it to shore up the support of
traditiona rulers in the state towards realising his dream.
His strong points
On his road to the Government House,
Katsina, the Speaker may have some advantages over other contenders to the seat.
For instance, Masari could use his present position to draw support from the top
echelon of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the national level. This would
definitely give him upper hand over other contenders in the party’s primaries.
Another advantage that would come the way of the Speaker is his hailing from the
southern zone of the state, which has never produced a civilian governor of the
state since its creation. There are also strong indications that he may be the
only PDP aspirant that would emerge from the zone. This would therefore make him
to enjoy the support of majority of the members of the party from the zone.
His Obstacles
Major obstacles that may stand in the way
of the Speaker and his ambition include the seeming polarisation of the party in
the state into Atiku and IBB groups. With this scenario, the Speaker may find
himself in the wrong camp, which may eventually scuttle his plan.
Another factor that may work against
Masari’s ambition is the possibility of the incumbent governor, Alhaji Umaru
Musa Yar’adua, having a candidate different from him. If this happens, the
governor who has firm control of the party machinery in the state would likely
manipulate it to the advantage of the contestant of his choice.
One other big problem that the Speaker would also face is
that the people of Katsina metropolis, who produced the two civilian governors
of the state so far may be unwilling to surrender power to any of the two zones
of the state. But such problem can be taken care of especially as the Speaker
seems to be building political bridges across the different zones. He is
gradually blotting out cleavages and entrenched political behaviours.
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