The Senate and the House of Representatives members representing President Buhari at the National Assembly are no longer members of the ruling party.
The Senator representing Katsina North (Daura zone), Ahmad Babba – Kaita, has continued his moves to completely take over the political leadership of the zone with his acquisition of President Muhammadu Buhari’s first-ever campaign office in Daura.
PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the campaign office located in the heart of Daura, Mr Buhari’s hometown, was acquired by The Buhari Organisation (TBO) in 2002 when he joined the All People’s Party contest for president for the first time in 2003.
Mr Babba – Kaita defected to the Peoples Democratic Party PDP in April this year.
He accused the state governor, Aminu Masari, of not carrying all ‘stakeholders’ along, not conducting local government elections, disobeying the foundation of democracy and not providing a level playing field for stakeholders in the state.
Even the House of Representatives member representing Sandamu/ Daura /Maiadua, who is the president’s nephew, Fatuhu Muhammad, has left the APC.
He has not announced his new party but it’s believed he will soon join the PDP.
From APC to PDP
The office, this newspaper gathered, was used by TBO until last week when the senator bought the property from its owners.
The office also served as a rendezvous for several APC members including top executive members of the party in Daura.
After buying it, the Senator handed it over to the PDP to make it its local government head office.
“To be honest with you, it reached a stage that we couldn’t maintain the office and we had to let go,” a top APC and TBO member in Daura told PREMIUM TIMES in confidence.
“We had no option (than to let it go) but it pains me that this legacy because we all see it as a legacy, is no longer our office.”
PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the one-storey building was owned by a former House of Representatives member in the area, Salisu Ado, who according to the source, allowed the TBO used the building without paying rent.
“When the owner died, the building became an ‘orphan’ property and because we couldn’t settle and the “big men” closer to him (Mr Buhari) were not willing to help us, the owners decided to sell it to Ahmad Babba Kaita.”
One of the middlemen involved in the selling of the property, who also asked not to be named, said TBO failed to pay the office rent for over three years after the demise of its owner.
He added that when the senator reached out to the family, they also notified the TBO of the decision to sell the property completely, “and as you can see, it has already been repainted.”
A media aide to Mr Muhammad, the president’s nephew, Ahmad Ganga, said his principal was one of the financers of the APC and to an extent the TBO before he left the party.
“He used to give the party N500,000 every month to support them to maintain APC’s legacies which include the TBO office in Daura.”
Not a big deal
While TBO members in Daura local government area refused to speak to PREMIUM TIMES, one of the founders of the organisation in the country, Alhaji Muntari (popularly known in Katsina as Muntari TBO) dismissed the selling of the office to the PDP as a “publicity-seeking stunt.”
The special assistant to Governor Masari on party liaison said TBO has achieved its purpose after Mr Buhari became the president.
But he said this doesn’t mean the president does not want to groom future politicians and leaders.
“It’s true that the office has been sold to the PDP but it didn’t belong to us because we’ve been renting it since 2002. It’s not a big deal because the PDP is now trying to resuscitate.
“What I know is that the TBO had achieved its purposes and the organisation had stopped existing since 2007. So, it’s not as if the Senator has done something special because you and I know he is not as popular and influential as the president,” he said.
When this reporter reminded him that the office still bore the TBO and APC symbols as of last week Friday and several party stalwarts were still seen at the office, he said “maybe they decided to maintain the logo and some symbols”.