By George Onmonya Daniel
The sole ambition of Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibril, is to become the governor of Kano State. Mr. Jibril also known as Maliya has nursed the ambition for as far back as I remember. He fought Ganduje last time as Ganduje tenure was about to end. In the end being incumbent, Ganduje had the last say.
As his dream appeared to be coming true since he became the Deputy Senate President, Maliya’s hope has been dashed by the defection of the governor of Kano State to All Progressive Congress and the assurance of an old foe that the governor would be unopposed gubernatorial candidate in the coming election. Where now for Barau Jibril, the Maliya, and his supporters? It all depends on Maliya. Will he defeat to NNPP to team up with Kwankwaso? Will he go to ADC? That seems to be Barau’s only hope now. If both parties accept him, Barau has the money and the muscles to challenge the governor, especially if he team up with Kwankwaso. Will Kwankwaso accept Barau? It is a tough one. After being betrayed, Kwankwaso definitely will be looking for a Governor he can control, someone subservient, not a strong personality like Barau. However, you never know. With Barau’s crowd, Kwankwaso knows that this could be a winner.
Or will Barau join the ADC? The ADC is another formidable party that is the new main opposition taking half of PDP members. More people would join the ADC and more would leave to join the PDP or other parties to contest when they lose the primaries. So, Barau has many options.
But will Barau risk it? Will he risk the senate position that is most probably assured to risk contesting for governor? It all depends. He can always defect, contest, and defect back to start scrambling for ministerial appointment if the APC wins the 2027 election. It all depends on Maliya.
For now it is clear he has lost the APC gubernatorial slot to Governor Abba Gida Gida.
Hmmmnm