Former Chief of Staff to ex-Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, Bashir Sa’idu, has pledged to deliver the 11 local government areas of the Zazzau Emirate to the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the coming elections.
Mr Sa’idu, a former Commissioner for Finance, made the pledge after recently defecting from the African Democratic Congress, ADC, to the APC with what he described as thousands of his supporters.
He made the commitment when the Special Adviser on Domestic Affairs to the Kaduna State Governor, Isa Lawal, visited him at his residence.
Speaking during the visit, Mr Sa’idu pledged his full commitment to the APC, saying he would prove wrong those who claimed he defected from the ADC alone.
He said the outcome of the coming elections would be different in Zaria Local Government, vowing that the APC would surpass its previous electoral records in the area.
Mr Sa’idu also said the APC would secure more votes in Zaria than those recorded for former President Muhammadu Buhari in previous elections.
He added that about 3,091 like-minded ADC members from Lere Local Government were preparing to defect to the APC.
The former Chief of Staff, who spoke in Hausa, further claimed that there were about 4,000 such supporters in some other local government areas.
He said those who doubted his political capacity would witness his strength during the elections.
“I will not boast about my capacity in other areas, but in the 11 local governments of Zazzau Emirate, we will show our strength, and no one has the kind of followers that we have,” he said.
Mr Sa’idu also claimed to have a strong political base in Igabi and Kaduna South local government areas, in addition to Zaria.
He said his supporters were not “run-of-the-mill politicians”, but people he could trust, adding that he had already joined the APC with 10,000 of them.
“We will prove that Allah has endowed us with supporters and these people believe in us politically. We have been meeting and fashioning out modalities of how we will win elections.
“This will not preclude the state government from planning independently. When the time comes, if there is the need to blend with us, fine. If you want us to plan concurrently and we meet at the polls, it is also okay,” he added.
