POLITICS TODAY

By Habib Bello

As the voters of Kaduna Central brace up for the 2019 general elections the All Progressives Congress flag bearer, Malam Uba Sani has raised the stakes. If there is one clear distinction between him and his rivals, it is the gap between him and the others in many respects. With enviable records of civil rights activism, many years of experience in the civil service and the entrepreneurship spirit that saw him making waves in telecommunications, he is easily the candidate to beat in the 2019 elections.

It is obvious that Uba Sani’s chances are comparatively brighter than those of his rivals because apart from being the most-experienced, he has built goodwill among the voters of Kaduna Central by rescuing the unemployed with jobs, while assisting the poor and aged people in settling their medical bills at regular intervals.

He has the respect and enormous goodwill of the community and opinion leaders and the clergy of Kaduna Central. In the last couple of months he has enjoyed a floodgate of donation of campaign offices and even campaign vehicles from his three co-contestants in the last Kaduna Central’s APC primaries that saw him winning by a landslide.

It is on record that Malam Uba is the only Kaduna Central senatorial candidate who got donations of huge cash and campaign souvenirs from volunteers that cut across prominent businessmen, women, traders and cooperative groups.

He is also the most popular candidate among women (who constitute majority of voters) in his constituency. Not only that, he has been the highest trending political figure of Kaduna Central on the social media platforms. His media visibility is largely on the mainstream platforms, unlike his rivals who make ample use of obsecure online media platforms.

Significantly, he has the advantage of tens of thousands of members in the recently-inaugurated ‘Kaduna State APC Campaign Council’ that will expectedly work jointly for the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Nasir Elrufai in the 2019 general elections. A few days ago also, the APC in Kaduna Central launched over 3,000-member campaign council that will be deployed to his advantage, while the campaign structures of his rivals are yet to be made public, with less than two months to the election.

The major edge Uba Sani has over Shehu Sani and Mr. LA is his impressive career history – years of experience as spokesman of the Federal Government under former President Obasanjo, and Special Adviser to Nasir Elrufai (when the latter was FCT Minister) among others. He also has the highest academic qualification than incumbent Senator Shehu, while Mr. LA is reportedly still in ABU Zaria on further studies.

There is also the multi-million naira Uba Sani Empowerment Foundation for the Underprivileged,which stemmed from the profit of his chain of businesses in telecommunications and property that have provided jobs and start-up capital for many young people in the North.

On the other hand, incumbent Senator Shehu Sani and Mr. LA, apart from their comparatively low academic qualifications and nearly non-existent years of working experience, have no known direct community service institutions in their names.

Majority of the voters of Kaduna Central are more at home with Malam Uba Sani, as we saw in the tumultuous crowd that attended his campaign flag-off in Giwa Local Government early this week. Some observers even said, he broke record by taking his campaign flag-off to the grassroots. This was an indication that he was closer to the masses than Mr. LA, who confined his flag-off event to the Kaduna G.R.A, considered an abode for the elites only.

During his recent visit to Rigasa, another highly-populated bubbling community, the area was jamp-packed with tens of thousands of loyal supporters chanting endorsement slogans. In fact, Malam Uba entered Rigasa twice in one week to commission campaign offices that were voluntarily donated by the people of that community. Till date, none of his rivals has got volunteer donors with such amazing speed.

Anywhere Malam Uba Sani visited he gets welcomed by tumultuous crowd, especially within the seven local governments that make up Kaduna Central. He has virtually taken over the social media space with his army of Facebook, Tweeter and Instagram admirers and fans. As the saying goes, a good Friday begins with a promising Wednesday.

Habibu wrote from Kaduna