The 2023 presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, Rabiu Kwankwaso, has dismissed claims that he is working for the re-election of President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 general election.
Speaking in an interview with Global TV on Wednesday night, the former Kano State governor described the allegation as false and misleading, insisting he had no such political arrangement.
Kwankwaso made the clarification while reacting to comments by Sanusi Bature, spokesperson to Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf, who had alleged during an interview on Arise News that the former NNPP leader was indirectly backing Tinubu’s second-term bid.
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, however, acknowledged his longstanding friendship with Tinubu, stressing that personal relations do not amount to 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.
He also criticised the current administration, arguing that the President may not be fully aware of the country’s challenges due to the influence of those 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.
Kwankwaso further confirmed ongoing political discussions within the Nigeria Democratic Congress, stating that the coalition had agreed 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.
Looking ahead to the 2027 elections, Kwankwaso expressed optimism that the coalition still has enough time to build nationwide support.
“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.
