The major candidates in Kastina State elections are Engineer Musa Nashuni of the PDP and Aminu Bello Masari of the APC.
Masari, a one time Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives from 2003 to 2007 is contesting again for this position having lost this post in 2011 to Ibrahim Shema, and by a very wide margin.
First, despite having held the very prestigious position of the number four man in the political pecking order in the country, Masari has not been able to develop, cultivate and project his own independent political identity in his own right.
In 2003, he became Speaker from virtual political obscurity through the sponsorship of the then Governor of Katsina State and later president of Nigeria, late Umaru Musa Yar’adua. When he ran for governor in 2011, he did so in the intimidating shadow of General Muhammadu Buhari who was then contesting for the presidency under the now-defunct CPC.
In other words, is there any possibility that second time would be the charm?
One trajectory that could work to deny Masari victory in the next
election is the intimidating performance of the eight-year
administration of Shema. His policy and performance in education,
agriculture, infrastructure–especially road networks–that have opened up and interconnected the entire 34 local councils in the state; his policy and performance in healthcare development; youth empowerment; the very delicate and all important issue of security wherein Katsina has become a small miracle of sorts; his financial prudence that has seen the state free of debt, have combined to make it difficult to fault Shema.
Somehow, the PDP in Katsina appears to have found their candidate for the governorship election. Apart from being a distinction student at all levels of his academic career, with at least two post graduate degrees to his credit, Engineer Musa Nashuni is the kind of fellow that is impossible not to pay attention to. He has no known political
antagonists or baggage and he is also an insider and an influential part of the current administration. Taking these reasons above, it would be surprising if Masari can surmount all these obstacles and beat Nashuni at the governorship elections in on April 11th.
– Verdict: Nashuni wins
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