Alhaji Mustapha Mohammed Inuwa, the former Secretary to the Katsina State Government (SSG), has explained why he lost the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primaries last May, claiming that he lacked the financial capacity to match the amount of money allegedly doled out to delegates by his main opponent.
Inuwa ran in the primaries alongside the then-Deputy Governor, Manir Yakubu, a former Managing Director of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Ahmed Dangiwa, and the incumbent Governor, Umaru Dikko Radda, who was Director-General of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency until his resignation.
At the conclusion of the primaries, Radda polled a total 506 votes of delegates from across the 34 Local Government Areas while Inuwa tagged behind with 442 votes.
Apparently due to the outcome of the results, Inuwa dumped the APC and moved on to the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Reliving the scenario in an interview in his residence on Wednesday night, Inuwa said he had no regrets whatsoever leaving the APC, having served former Governor Aminu Bello Masari as SSG for almost eight years.
According him, “the primaries started well but towards the end, when some people realized that that they were going to lose the election, they brought in money.
“They gave N1 million to each of the delegates from the last two Local Government Areas and they were a total of about 105 from the two Local Government Areas and each was given N1 million to vote.
“The people are now seeing the result of what they did. “Whoever invested that kind of money in primaries, you know very well that they will try to recoup their money and even make some profit from it and that is exactly what is happening now.”
Although Inuwa insisted that he has no intention seeking any elective positions in the future, he noted that there are strong indications that the PDP will make a comeback in 2027, “with what is happening today in Nigeria.”
As he put it, “why should I regret leaving the APC? I have more confidence in the PDP than in the APC. From the way things are going in Nigeria today and what is happening, tell me who is happy in the country, not even the APC.
“Unfortunately, I believe things will even deteriorate and you expect the people to still vote for APC in 2027?
“Ninety-six per cent of the outcome of the 2023 general elections in Nigeria are being contested in the courts because the people were not satisfied.
“It was not my idea to aspire to contest the Katsina governorship election but the people and political associates insisted that we should do it.
“We prayed to God for the best and we believed that the outcome for us would the best.
“Honestly, I do not have any ambition of going for any elective positions in 2027 if at all we are even alive to see that year because only God knows who will be alive tomorrow not to talk about more than three years from now.”