Radda, erstwhile Executive Director of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN), had staged an upset in the APC governorship primary in Buhari’s home state after beating all the three presumed favourites for the party’s ticket.
Dr Dikko Radda, who won the governorship ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Katsina State, will pick President Muhammadu Buhari’s nephew and personal assistant, Sabiu ‘Tunde’ Yusuf as his running mate.
Radda, erstwhile Executive Director of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN), had staged an upset in the APC governorship primary in Buhari’s home state after beating all the three presumed favourites for the party’s ticket.
He had beaten the immediate past secretary to Katsina Government, Dr Mustapha Inuwa, the immediate past CEO of Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc, Abbas Umar Masanawa, and a former Managing Director of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Ahmed Dangiwa, to the ticket.
However, SaharaReporters learnt on Wednesday that the choice of Sabiu Tunde Yusuf, one of Buhari’s favourite persons, was a calculated one to provide immunity for Radda.
Sabiu reportedly got the nickname ‘Tunde’ due to his closeness to the President. The late General Babatunde Abdulbaki Idiagbon, better known simply as Tunde Idiagbon, served as the 6th Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters (second-in-command) under Buhari as military head of state from 1983 to 1985.
Idiagbon was also a key member of Nigeria's military governments between 1966 and 1979, serving as a military administrator of Borno State under General Olusegun Obasanjo's military government.
He was also famously known as Buhari’s ally and said to be the de facto leader when the former was a military ruler.
“The SMEDAN man who won the Katsina APC governorship is to take Sabiu Tunde as deputy governor thereby giving him some form of immunity,” a source told SaharaReporters.
Meanwhile, it appears to be a case of ‘what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander,’ as sources told SaharaReporters that the presidential candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Garba Yakubu Lado will pick the son of Dahiru Mangal, arguably the richest man in Katsina, as his running mate.
Lado emerged as the winner of the state PDP governorship primaries last Friday at the party’s state secretariat, beating Salisu Yusuf Majigiri, Yar’Adua Ahmed Aminu and Shehu Inuwa Imam to the ticket.
Mangal is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Afdin Group of companies Nigeria Limited and Katsina Dyeing and Printing Textiles Limited.
He is the founder of Max Air, one of Nigeria’s airlines operating a domestic, regional and international flight network. The business mogul recently established a rice processing mill and fertilizer blending plant.
“Lado of the PDP will pick Dahiru Mangal’s son,” one of the sources told SaharaReporters.
“The gullible northern masses allow the elites to rule and even bring their children on board to continue to oppress them,” another source noted.