Former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has debunked claims that he is working for the interest of President Bola Tinubu re-election bid in the 2027 presidential election.
Kwankwaso, who spoke on Wednesday night during an interview with Global TV, observed that the speculation has been peddled since his days in the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP).
Spokesman for Governor Abba of Kano State, Sanusi Bature, had alleged that Kwankwaso is indirectly working for Tinubu’s re-election in 2027 despite being reportedly tipped to be the running mate to the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi.
He further claimed that Kwankwaso, an erstwhile national leader of the NNPP, worked for Tinubu in 2023, and had recently pushed for a direct meeting with the president, which did not materialise.
However, Kwankwaso refuted the allegations, saying only foolish people would believe the claims, saying: “I think only foolish people would believe that. We are not working for anybody. We are only working for NDC.
“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.”
The ex-minister of defence said even though he belongs to another political party, he believes the president is not aware of the issues plaguing the country because those around him are not telling him the truth.
“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.”
On May 3, Kwankwaso and Obi ditched the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), where they have been holding talks bordering on a joint presidential ticket.
Shedding light on this collaboration, Kwankwaso explained that his camp opted to support Obi because it believes he is the best candidate from the south.
“When we joined the NDC, we invited all our leaders from the six geo-political 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.”
