Rabiu Kwankwaso, former governor of Kano State, has ruled out the Labour Party winning the presidential election in 2023.
Kwankwaso made the remark while appearing on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics monitored by Newsclickng.com. He is running for president on the platform of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP).
Rather, he proposed an alliance with the presidential candidate of the Labour Party and former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, whom he wants to be his running mate in the poll.
“I believe it is in the interest of Labour Party and the NNPP, and even in the interest of this country … because LP, as it stands today, certainly cannot win election,” said the former Kano governor. “Yes! It cannot win election.
“Because mainly, the support is mainly in a particular zone and not spread, and the figures there cannot earn anybody a presidential seat in this country.”
Both former governors alongside others are in the race to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari who completes his second term in office in May 2023.
In a bid for a third force, there have been calls for the duo to form an alliance as an alternative for Nigerians besides the two major political parties – All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Although Kwankwaso is hopeful of an alliance, he explained why he cannot be a running mate to Obi and why the latter should accept the vice-presidential slot.
“The major issue, as it stands today, is the issue of who becomes the president and who becomes the vice president and I believe this is the time really to advise – especially those who are positively behind the candidate of the Labour Party – that for me, I have seen an opportunity for the South East to be relevant in the next dispensation. In PDP, they are completely out, and so in the APC. The only opportunity now is the NNPP.
“Most of the things that are happening in the South, especially in the South East; people are not comfortable with that and as long as you have somebody from there in any party, it will be very difficult for the northern voters to vote, and that’s the situation now,” he said.
