Rabiu Kwankwaso, the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party in the 2023 election, has denied allegations that he is supporting President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
During an interview with Global TV on Wednesday night, the former Kano State governor described the claims as false and misleading. He was reacting to remarks by Sanusi Bature, spokesperson to Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf, who alleged during an interview on Arise News that Kwankwaso was indirectly backing Tinubu’s second-term ambition.
Dismissing the allegation, Kwankwaso said only “foolish people” would believe such claims.
“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 acknowledged his long-standing relationship with Tinubu but insisted that friendship does not amount to political partnership.
“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.
Kwankwaso also criticised the present administration, claiming the President may not fully understand the realities facing the country because of the people around 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.
He further revealed that political discussions were ongoing within the Nigeria Democratic Congress and noted that the coalition had chosen 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 preparations for the 2027 election, Kwankwaso expressed confidence that there was still enough time to mobilise support nationwide.
“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.
