Following the withdrawal of a onetime senator, Bashir Lado, from the Kano Central senatorial contest, former governor Ibrahim Shekarau has finally become the sole APC candidate.
DAILY NIGERIAN reports that Shekarau picked the Senate nomination form immediately after dumping Peoples Democratic Party, PDP for the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
But Mr Lado, who also defected to the APC, initially insisted in contesting for the senate seat amidst mounting pressure by the party to withdraw for Mr Shekarau.
He however succumbed to the pressure on Thursday, calling on his supporters to vote for Mr Shekarau.
Sources said Mr Lado had planned to stage a mega rally in the senatorial district on Thursday, but was allegedly asked to shelve the plan by the state governor, Abdullahi Ganduje.
The campaign director for Mr Lado, Mustapha Bakwana, told journalists on Thursday that he received a phone call from Mr Ganduje, asking him to prevail on Mr Lado to shelve his rally.
“We have hired over 250 buses to convey us to Garin Malam, Madobi, Kura and Bunkure before I received a call from the governor.
“In our phone conversation, Mr Ganduje asked me to call on Senator Lado to change the plan for his sake and from there, we moved and met with the governor who persuaded him to withdraw,” he said.
DAILY NIGERIAN recalled that in 2011, Mr Lado, once rejected the request of a former governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, to withdraw his senate ambition for former speaker, Ghali Na’abba.
