Kwankwaso Jittery Over Yari’s Appointment As Tinubu’s Campaign Director-General, Says APC Group

The APC Daga Titi Zuwa Titi, a Northwest grassroots mobilization group of the ruling party, has described the recent comments by former Kano State Governor, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, on the appointment of Senator Abdul’aziz Yari as Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council as the clearest indication yet that Yari’s emergence has unsettled the opposition.

In a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Comrade Jaafar Hassan, the group said it was revealing that out of all the appointments announced in the APC campaign structure, Kwankwaso found it necessary to personally appeal to Senator Yari to reconsider his acceptance of the responsibility.

According to the group, politicians rarely advise their opponents to abandon positions they consider politically irrelevant.

“Senator Kwankwaso may dress his intervention in the language of brotherly concern, but Nigerians can see through it. You do not publicly plead with an opponent to leave the battlefield unless you are worried about what his presence on that battlefield means,” it said.

The group said Yari’s appointment had altered the political calculations of opposition leaders, particularly in the North-West, where the former Zamfara State Governor has built an extensive political network and a growing grassroots following.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu did not appoint Senator Yari to decorate a campaign list. He appointed a former two-term Governor, former Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, serving Senator, and experienced grassroots politician who understands the political terrain of Northern Nigeria and has demonstrated an ability to organize, mobilize, and build relationships across political and regional boundaries.

That is what has made Kwankwaso uncomfortable.”

APC Daga Titi Zuwa Titi also described as ironic Kwankwaso’s attempt to question Yari’s political choices at a time when Kwankwaso himself is relying on his alliance with Peter Obi and the national attention surrounding that ticket to expand his political relevance beyond his traditional base.

“Senator Kwankwaso is free to ride on Peter Obi’s national profile in search of a wider audience. What he cannot do is pretend that Senator Yari requires lectures from him on how to make political decisions.

“Yari does not need anybody to manufacture a national profile for him. His political record speaks for itself. More importantly, he enjoys something that evidently troubles the opposition today: the confidence of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the trust of the leadership of Africa’s largest political party to coordinate a presidential campaign across 36 states and the FCT.”

The group said Kwankwaso should concentrate on explaining the political contradictions within his own camp rather than attempting to choose a campaign director for President Tinubu.

“If Senator Yari were politically inconsequential, Kwankwaso would have ignored his appointment. Instead, before the campaign has even properly begun, he is publicly asking the APC Campaign Director-General to resign. That tells Nigerians far more about the significance of Yari’s appointment than anything we could possibly say.

“The opposition has seen the appointment. They have done their calculations. They understand the capacity, network, and political reach that Senator Yari brings to this campaign. The anxiety has started early.”

The group, therefore, urged Senator Yari to disregard what it described as unsolicited advice from political opponents and to concentrate on the responsibility entrusted to him by President Tinubu and the APC.

“Kwankwaso should save his advice for his own campaign. Senator Abdul’aziz Yari has an assignment, and by the grace of God, he will deliver it.”

END