Aminu Kano

==== The PRP split ====
Some months into the Second Republic, nine governors from UPN, GNPP, and PRP held monthly meetings where they held discussions and aired their grievances against Shagari's government. These governors were seen as the main political opposition to the ruling party. This caused tension within the PRP as the party's most influential leaders—its President Aminu and its National Secretary, S.G. Ikoku—emphasized cooperation with the NPN, while some more radical members, including the two governors, Abubakar Rimi and Balarabe Musa, who were both members of the nine Governors, denounced the NPN and opposed any form of cooperation.<ref name=":34" />
[[File:Aminu Kano and Abubakar Rimi.jpg|thumb|261x261px|Aminu and Abubakar Rimi. Likely taken before the party split.]]
Two factions formed within the party. The 'radical' faction were more or less "deeply committed to radical change and [[Socialism|socialist principles]]." They had the desire for an "open confrontation of class forces". It contained some of the founding members of the party, most of its House of Representatives members, its prominent intellectuals, and the two governors. While the other faction represented the more moderate and ideologically varied members of the party. They encouraged the more moderate 'democratic humanism' of Aminu Kano, and held the belief that confrontation with the Shagari government "should yield, at least for the time being, to the imperatives of national unity and inter-party co-operation." This group included prominent [[leftists]]—like Ikoku—businessmen, professionals, and other party members loyal to Aminu.<ref name=":34" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Joseph |first=Richard A. |url=http://archive.org/details/democracyprebend0000jose |title=Democracy and prebendal politics in Nigeria : the rise and fall of the Second Republic |date=1987 |publisher=Cambridge [Cambridgeshire] ; New York : Cambridge University Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-521-34136-3}}</ref>{{Rp|page=143}} The radical faction was called ''Santsi'' ('slippery' in Hausa) after Aminu said they were on a slippery slope. Rimi then replied that 'some party leaders' were 'stuck in the mud', hence the pro-Aminu faction were known as ''Taɓo'' ('mud' in Hausa).<ref name=":28" />{{Rp|page=432}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jega |first=Mahmud |title=Red, Blue and Swing States |url=https://issuu.com/thisdaylive/docs/tdla_0116_5adc568f6292ba |work=Thisday Newspapers |pages=48}}</ref>

During the spring of 1980, while Aminu was abroad for medical treatment, the PRP leadership formally prohibited the two governors from attending the nine governors' meetings. Upon his return, unable to mediate between the two factions, he aligned himself with the Taɓo faction, thereby endorsing the actions of the party establishment. As the two governors persisted in attending the meetings despite the directive, they were expelled from the party. In response, the Santsi faction, claiming to be the authentic PRP, convened a party convention in December 1980, where they expelled Aminu and Ikoku, replacing them with Chief [[Michael Imoudu|Michael Imodu]] and Abubakar Rimi, respectively. However, despite the significant number of PRP legislators who sided with the Santsi faction, FEDECO recognized Aminu as the legitimate leader of the PRP.<ref name=":34" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Jr. |first=C S Whitaker |url=http://archive.org/details/perspectivesonse0000unse |title=Perspectives on the second republic in Nigeria |date=1981 |publisher=Waltham, Mass. : Crossroads Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-918456-43-4}}</ref>{{Rp|page=13}}