Senator Shehu Sani’s Automatic Ticket A Difficult Task To Get

Almost eight weeks after the senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani, opted to remain in the party after many of his colleagues had defected to Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, he is yet to be assured of the ticket of All Progressives Congress, APC, to be able to return to the upper legislative chamber of the National Assembly next year.

Indications emerged, yesterday, that neither President Muhammadu Buhari nor Governor Nasir el-Rufai is in a hurry to assist him secure a second term ticket, despite his recent ‘supportive’ disposition to the two top APC political leaders, whose voices were needed to get the crucial political endorsement as the Senate primaries hold this week.

According to informed party sources, the continued silence of the two leaders and Kaduna State chapter of the APC over Sani’s fate has left him in a difficult political situation because it might be too late for him to defect to another party and secure a Senate ticket if the APC denies him one to return to the National Assembly.

Sani is reported to have sought the assistance of two northern governors said to be very close to the president to help intercede on his behalf but the intervention did not yield any positive results, just as the one earlier undertaken by a trusted Sokoto State senator and former governor.

A top official in the administration, who is familiar with the senator’s political situation said: “The problem all the interventions encountered is that Shehu Sani had gone too far in burning his bridges in Kaduna.

“It is said that a compendium of his comments since 2015 ridiculing Buhari himself, the APC and Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai, has been circulated to key leaders.

“This document shows that Shehu Sani does not hold even the President in high esteem. So his recent ‘good-boy’ posture is being dismissed as desperate actions of a man who wants to remain in the Senate.”

Party sources said senior politicians are surprised that Shehu Sani expects his latest actions to be seen as genuine and be taken seriously.

One of the top party sources noted: “This is a man who printed posters without the APC logo and boasted that he would defect.

“He has not even tried to mend fences with the people he most offended in Kaduna. The party in Kaduna is said to be in no mood to reward disloyalty after Shehu Sani had treated them with contempt for more than three years.

“We expect him to grumble after he loses the primary. We will not be surprised if he even creates some drama. But as far we are concerned, Shehu Sani is finished politically.”