![NNPP’s Victory in Kano State: Salutes to Ali Haruna Makoda, HOTPEN](https://hotpen.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/IMG_20230531_142836.jpg)
By Aliyu Dangida
“I Prof. Muhammad Dokko Ibrahim, hereby certified that, I am the returning officer for March 18 Kano state gubernatorial elections and that Yusuf Abba Kabir of New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), having certified the requirement of the law, is hereby declared winner and returned elected”.
Its beyond contestation that the larger Kano populace had waited with bated breath for the above statement to be made by the representative of the Nigeria’s electoral umpire, (Independent Electoral Commission, INEC) in Kano, Prof. Muhammad Ibrahim Dokko to celebrate the long awaited tide of change in the commercial centre of the North.
Abba’s victory was with no doubt credited to the powerful political forces that must be reckoned with in the state which joined the fight to oust the mediocrity government of All Progressive Congress (APC) in the state.
Unarguably, the defection of Gwani Ali Haruna Makoda, one of the mightiest political force and Chief of Staff to former Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has lent further credence to the fact when reviews are made in the history of change makers in the state, his name will be written on the wallpaper of life.
In April 2022, Makoda tendered his resignation from exalted position of Chief of Staff, but Ganduje rejected his letter but his passion for good governance and salvation of the Kano people from macabre situation pushed him further to decamp and contributed immensely towards the emergence of Abba Kabir Yusuf as elected governor of Kano state.
The swearing in of Abba Gida-Gida as the elected governor of Kano state has raised hopes of better days ahead in the ancient city of Kano because the state has been afflicted by a crippling vacuum in political leadership for good eight years.
Consequently, the state has grappled with the weight of uninspiring political leadership, which lacks the strength of character to awaken the people. The cost of this prolonged leadership vacuum has been high in economic setbacks and backwardness of business activities as well as human capital development.
Dr. Ali Makoda could rightly be positioned as Kano’s political messiah and a person with a Midas touch. He was appointed as the Abba Gida-Gida Campaign Director-General and deployed his intellectual prowess and reverse psychology to ensure that the new change revolution has cost to victory in Kano state.
This has not come as a surprise, owing to his political, vast knowledge and leadership pedigree. He served as the commissioner of environment and was later elevated to the seat of the chief of staff in the same administration.
He is lettered, religious, and an intellectual, political cum business personality among his equals. Dr. Gwani Ali Haruna Makoda possessed the holiness of Qur’anic and western education which are his major capital in astuteness and master of what was he was doing.
He was once the most productive and youngest chairman of the Makoda area council of the state. He also served as Special Adviser on Metropolitan to Kano state governor, Engr. Dr. Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso.
Gwani Ali Haruna Makoda shared a lot of similarities with the Kwankwasiyya Jagaban, Engr. Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and the Kano State elected governor, Engr. Abba Kabir Yusuf in terms of principle, discipline, fight against corruption, transparency, and accountability in governance and other areas of life.
The emergence of Abba Kabir Yusuf as the elected governor does not come as surprise because his team was led by a power broker, a true technocrat who understood the art and science of politics within the state power corridor.
Gwani Ali Makoda, a salute to a man who knows his job. Salute to competence confidence and tenacity.
During the 2023 general elections, NNPP defeated the ruling APC in the Kano State gubernatorial as well as won 2 Senatorial seat out of 3 while 19 out of 22 Members House of Representatives seat and 26 out of 40 seats of State Assembly won by NNPP.