Nigerian politics rarely runs on impulse. It runs on memory, patience, and carefully hidden scripts. What is unfolding around Kano today did not begin yesterday—it traces back to 2022, when a powerful Governor-General–style political heavyweight quietly began repositioning himself ahead of the future.
When plans to exit the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) were first conceived in 2022, an advance political delegation was discreetly dispatched to the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP). Loyalists moved swiftly. Structures shifted. Only one man stayed behind—publicly denying defection, while privately holding strategic meetings with his inner circle in Abuja.
The objective at the time, insiders say, was singular and strategic: block the presidential path of Atiku Abubakar. What looked like hesitation was, in reality, a delayed execution.
Fast-forward to today, and the alleged 2027 script reads less like speculation and more like a political blueprint.
Act One: The Ganduje Pact
At the heart of the plan is a proposed détente with Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and the All Progressives Congress (APC). Old rivals become partners. Power is shared. The governorship stays APC, the deputy slot goes to the other camp, while ministerial positions are divided down the middle—pure realpolitik. In Kano politics, the logic is simple: the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Act Two: Stopping the ADC Wave
With murmurs of a growing ADC surge in Kano, the strategy reportedly includes deliberately blocking any third-force momentum before it matures into an electoral tsunami. Kano, after all, is too strategic to be left vulnerable to an unexpected wave.
Act Three: Fragment the Presidential Vote
Perhaps the most delicate maneuver: running a controlled, low-impact presidential campaign under the NNPP—not to win, but to split Kano votes. The arithmetic is brutal but effective: fragmented opposition votes translate into a clearer path for Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the national level.
Act Four: Trojan Horses in the Legislature
Under this script, trusted loyalists contest elections into the State and National Assemblies on the NNPP platform, only to cross over later. By the time defections happen, the numbers—and power—would already be locked in.
Final Act: The 2031 Endgame
The final destination is not Kano alone. After delivering value, votes, and structures, the ultimate move is to formally join the APC and begin lobbying for the 2031 presidential ticket—not as a newcomer, but as a man who paid his dues early.
In Kano’s ruthless political terrain, nothing is accidental. Denials are tactics. Silence is strategy. And what looks like confusion today may simply be a script unfolding—line by line.
If this is truly the game in black and white, then Kano is not watching politics unfold.
Kano is watching a long game being played.
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