President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Tuesday held separate closed-door meetings with former Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje and former Minister of Defence Badaru Abubakar at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Details of the discussions were not made public.
Badaru, who previously governed Jigawa State, has been embroiled in a political standoff with Governor Umar Namadi over the control of the All Progressives Congress (APC) structure in the state. The dispute reportedly led to the removal of his nominee, Bashir Gumel, as the party’s National Financial Secretary, with Namadi putting forward a replacement.
Although there have been speculations about Badaru defecting to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), he has denied any intention to leave the APC.
Meanwhile, Ganduje is expected to remain within the ruling party and is not considering a move to the ADC coalition. The former APC National Chairman is also said to be influential in deciding the next deputy governor of Kano State following the resignation of Aminu Gwarzo.
His preferred candidate is reportedly Murtala Garo, though the Speaker of the Kano State House of Assembly, Jibrin Fagge, is also believed to be interested in the position.
