The presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party in the 2023 election, Rabiu Kwankwaso, has dismissed claims that he is working for the re-election of President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Speaking during an interview with Global TV on Wednesday night, the former Kano State Governor described the allegation as false and misleading, while
Kwankwaso stated this while reacting to comments made by Sanusi Bature, spokesperson for Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf, who alleged in an interview on Arise News that the former NNPP leader was indirectly supporting Tinubu’s second-term ambition.
Rejecting the claim, Kwankwaso said only “foolish people” would believe such allegations.
“I think only foolish people would believe that. We are not working for anybody. We are only working for NDC,” he said.
The former Minister of Defence, however, acknowledged his longstanding relationship with Tinubu, stressing that friendship does not translate into political alignment.
“Bola Tinubu has been my senior brother and good friend up till now. But that doesn’t mean we shall pull all our political ideologies together with him.
“He is doing his own, and I am doing my own,” Kwankwaso added.
The former governor also criticised the current administration, alleging that the President may not be fully aware of the country’s realities because of those surrounding him.
“Normally, under the current circumstances, the president may not see what is happening. And unfortunately, most of the people around him are actually the ones creating the problems
“So, in those circumstances, it is difficult to see who will advise him or tell him the obvious situation. What they normally tell and what they are doing is to pick governors. I think going by the number of governors now, APC is number one,” he said.
Kwankwaso also confirmed ongoing political talks within the Nigeria Democratic Congress, noting that the coalition resolved to support Peter Obi as its preferred southern presidential candidate.
“When we joined the NDC, we invited all our leaders from the six geopolitical zones, and we sat down and looked at the situations. We then decided to come together and work as a family.
“The party, in its own wisdom, decided to zone the presidential ticket to the south. We looked around across the zones, and we realised that Peter Obi is the best candidate. That was our assessment at that particular time,” he said.
Speaking on the coalition’s chances ahead of the 2027 election, Kwankwaso said the group still had enough time to mobilise support across the country.
“We are trying to convince the people, even those who are going about telling lies to try to take advantage of our differences in the country, which should be our strength; we are working on that.
“And I am happy to say that we are very lucky because from now till January 16, 2027, we have about eight months, which is enough time,” he said.
