The 2023 presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Alhaji Rabiu Kwankwaso, is being wooed by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to join forces with President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 general elections.
This was disclosed by Yusuf Sharada, an ally of Kwankwaso and National Coordinator of Project Save Nigeria, who revealed that the APC is making frantic efforts to get Kwankwaso on board due to his mass followership and influence in Kano and the North-West region.
Sharada spoke as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Tuesday.
He said the APC has lost its popularity in Kano, a state with high voting strength in Nigeria, and has since begun shopping for Kwankwaso, and his socio-political movement, Kwankwasiyya.
According to him, “They have been wooing Senator Kwankwaso to join them in the APC knowing his antecedents and his mass followership. Of course, it is their political permutations.
“Senator Kwankwaso stayed away from the APC because he is not in tandem with what they are doing as a government.
”They have been insisting that they want him to join them. Politics is about numbers and they know that he has the numbers, especially from Kano and the core North-Western part of the country, ” he said.
Sharada speculated that the resignation of Abdullahi Ganduje as APC National Chairman might be part of the ruling party’s plan to attract Kwankwaso to their side.
“Maybe the APC has perfected their plans. They are looking for the numbers because of their anti-masses policies; the masses of Nigeria are no longer with them.
“So, they now want someone that the masses of this country have hope in to join them so that they have those numbers, especially from that part of the country,” he said.
Sharada said Kwankwaso’s cult-like followers known as Kwankwasiyya members were loyal to the ex-presidential candidate and await directives from him on the party to support in the 2027 presidential election.
“One thing that people should understand about the followers of Senator Kwankwaso is that they value him more than any platform or party that he is in because of his antecedent and the way he impacted so many lives in that part of the country.
”So, people listen to his opinion; they are waiting for him to give directives for them to follow,” he said.
Historically, since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999, the northern region of the country, especially Kano, always had the highest voter turnout at presidential elections, making it a darling of politicians jostling for Aso Rock top job.
In the 2023 presidential election, Kwankwaso won 38 out of 44 local government areas in Kano and secured a significant number of votes in the state.
Kwankwaso’s godson, Abba Kabir, is currently the Governor of Kano, representing the NNPP.
The APC controls two of the three senatorial districts in Kano, highlighting the ongoing political dynamics in the state
