…Says Tinubu’s plan to accommodate Kwankwaso in APC is political miscalculation, suicidal
From SEUN SHOTUNDE, ABEOKUTA
Former Kano State Governor, Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso, is using the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, to negotiate with President Bola Tinubu of All Progressives Congress, APC, to return to power in 2027, according to NNPP National Secretary, Comrade Olaposi Oginni.
Oginni, who disclosed this in a statement made available to our correspondent in Abeokuta, at the weekend accused Kwankwaso of using both NNPP and his Kwankwasiya Movement as a bargain with Tinubu so as to secure political appointments should Tinubu return for a second term in office as President.
He, specifically dismissed the notion that Kwankwaso had the electoral strength in Kano State to pull votes for Tinubu in the forthcoming polls, citing his failure to pull mass votes in the last presidential election where former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Peter Obi, pulled majority of Kano votes in the last presidential election.
He wondered why the former Minister of Defence would be trading NNPP for the ruling APC to obtain political position at the national level should Tinubu return to office the second time, stressing that the president might be making a grave mistake to negotiate with Kwankwaso to win the seat of power in 2027.
The National NNPP Secretary divulged that the former Governor of Kano State lacks integrity and cannot stay in a party he can’t dominate, alleging that Kwankwaso was using Dr. Ahmed Ajuji to create confusion in APC carcus in Kano State to buy time and make a negotiable deal with Tinubu to achieve his political goal after the ruling party return to power in 2027.
He also bemoaned the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for the delay in updating NNPP’s leadership on its website after a court sitting in Abia State affirmed the leadership of NNPP under Dr. Agbo Major Gilbert and the party’s Board of Trustees, BoT, led by Dr. Boniface Okechukwu Aniebonam.
Oginni, said “Fresh revelations suggest that Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and his Kwankwasiyya movement may be using the NNPP as a political bargaining chip in clandestine negotiations for membership and a position of influence within the All Progressives Congress, APC”.
“Questions are now mounting over the troubling silence and inaction of INEC in the face of clear, binding court judgments affirming the leadership of the NNPP under Dr. Agbo Major Gilbert and the party’s Board of Trustees ,BoT, led by Dr. Boniface Okechukwu Aniebonam”.
“Since November 1, 2024, when the Abia State High Court issued a decisive judgment recognizing the BoT as the lawful authority in NNPP, INEC has remained complicit and mute, refusing to reflect the leadership change despite being duly served and made a party to the suits”.
“Even a subsequent ruling by the FCT High Court in Abuja reaffirmed the Abia Court’s decision, yet INEC still plays deaf. This blatant disobedience to court orders is not just administrative negligence; it hints at systemic sabotage”.
“Meanwhile, it is an electoral fact that President Tinubu emerged victorious in 2023 without Kano’s majority votes, with Atiku and Obi significantly outperforming Kwankwaso, who trailed far behind. So where is all the propaganda coming from about Kwankwaso’s so-called electoral strength in Kano and the North West?”
“Let it be known: The NNPP is not a marketplace for political merchants like Senator Kwankwaso. INEC must be held accountable for allowing this charade, thereby enabling a man who is allegedly trading on NNPP’s platform while seeking personal accommodation in APC’s corridors of power”.
“To Mr. President, this is a critical juncture: with leaders like Ganduje, the Deputy Senate President, Senators Mukaila and Baffa Bichi, and other formidable APC stalwarts in Kano, Kwankwaso poses no real threat, he is a spent force. Any move to accommodate him in APC may be a historic miscalculation and a political suicide ahead of 2027”.
“Kwankwaso’s transactional politics were evident in 2023. He misled many, but never again. His track record is clear: unilateral decisions, nepotism (as seen in his imposition of an in-law as NNPP governorship candidate without a primary), and a web of betrayal from which even political allies likeTinubu, Turaki, Ganduje, Goje, Obi, Shakarau, Alkali, Bichi, Prof. Sam Angwe, Hon. Rurum, and many others have fled”.
“Presently, he is deploying stooges like Dr. Ahmed Ajuji to file frivolous suits, muddy the waters, and create confusion in APC circles, especially in Kano, all as part of a grand ploy to buy time and broker a deal”.
“But the moment INEC obeys the courts and formally recognizes the Dr. Agbo Major Gilbert-led NWC of the NNPP, Kwankwaso’s house of cards will collapse, and his political scheming will be confined to the dustbin of Nigerian politics”.
“Make no mistake: Kwankwaso is not joining any party where he cannot dominate, and certainly not one where trust and credibility matter. He is no longer a factor. What remains is for INEC to stop aiding impunity and uphold the rule of law”.
Nigeria is not a banana republic. The Renewed Hope Agenda cannot thrive where institutions trample on court judgments. It is our hope that the chairman of INEC shall preserve his earned honour and respect as the head of election matters of the Federal Republic of Nigeria at this critical time”, he added.
