Niger PDP in disarray over governorship candidate

A three-way fight in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the governorship of Niger State may end its hold on the politics and governance of the landlocked state since 1999.

The first camp is led by Governor Babangida Aliyu, the second by his predecessor, Abdulkadir Kure, and the third by former military President, Ibrahim Babangida.

Aliyu is pushing for his Chief of Staff, Umar Nasko, to succeed him. Kure is rooting for Deputy Governor, Musa Ibeto.

Nasko attended Nigeria Military School, Zaria, and later trained in Poland in the 1990s. Aliyu appointed him Culture and Tourism Commissioner in 2010 but fired him the following year.

He, however, bounced back into reckoning early this year when Aliyu made him Chief of Staff – and now, he wants him to be Governor.

It was learnt that Aliyu has warned others in his cabinet nursing the same ambition to perish the thought.

However, Kure, a major force in the state PDP, has thrown his weight behind Ibeto or, in the alternative, wants the job to go to former Deputy Inspector General of Police, Nuhu Aliyu.

Kure is reportedly telling who ever cares to listen that he wants a mature person to come in and “clear the mess” that will be left by Aliyu when he exits from the office.

Babangida is also reportedly scheming for his son, Mohammed, to become governor. But for now, the battle is really between Aliyu and Kure.

Aliyu was recently quoted as saying that nobody will push him out of the PDP and is allegedly positioning himself for the Niger East Senatorial seat.

To succeed, he will have to take the ticket from Nuhu Zagbayi, who was recently elected into the Senate in a bye election following the death of Idri Kuta.

Aliyu, like some of his counterparts in other PDP controlled states, got the party to zone the slot to his own Chanchaga Council.

If Aliyu gets the senatorial ticket, he is likely to slug it out with David Umaru, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who contested in the bye-election that produced Zagbayi.

Umaru has gone to court, challenging the result of that election, which his party believes was rigged.

The PDP may be struggling to patch up the cracks within, but its major opponent, the APC, appears to be consolidating preparation for the ballot next year.

A source said the APC may have settled for Abubakar Bello as its governorship candidate and former governorship candidate of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Shetima Bako, as his running mate.

Bello is said to have the support of former military Head of State, Abdulsalami Abubakar, his father in law.