Former Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, has said his decision to run as Peter Obi’s running mate in the 2027 presidential election was motivated by national interest, fairness and the need to provide Nigerians with an alternative political direction.
Kwankwaso, who spoke during the News Agency of Nigeria Personality Interview Series in Abuja on Sunday, also took a swipe at some of his former political allies in Kano, declaring that former governors Ibrahim Shekarau and Abdullahi Ganduje, as well as incumbent Governor Abba Yusuf, had lost significant political influence in the state.
The former governor said his experience during the 2023 election helped him develop a better understanding of Obi and convinced him that both men could work together for the country.
He explained that the decision to form the alliance followed consultations with members of the Kwankwasiyya Movement, supporters of the New Nigeria Peoples Party and the Obidient Movement.
According to him, the consultations produced a consensus that a politically balanced ticket involving the North and South offered the best opportunity to challenge the existing political order in 2027.
“People learn every day, and that is why experience is very important. In 2023, we attempted to work together and at that particular point, I knew little about Peter Obi.
“But over these last four years, I was able to learn a lot and realised that Peter is somebody that I could work together with,” he said.
Kwankwaso said the arrangement was also based on the understanding that the South should produce the president for one term following the completion of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s eight-year tenure, after which power would return to the North.
He argued that the agreement was necessary to give his supporters confidence that the political arrangement was based on equity and would not permanently disadvantage any region.
‘Nigeria needs political change’
The former Kano governor said the country’s worsening security situation, economic hardship, declining agricultural productivity and deteriorating infrastructure had reinforced his decision to support political change.
He said farmers, particularly in Northern Nigeria, were struggling because of insecurity and other factors that had made agriculture increasingly difficult and less profitable.
Kwankwaso also criticised the condition of infrastructure across the country, saying only a few places had recorded significant improvements.
He maintained that the circumstances confronting Nigerians were similar to the conditions that fuelled the demand for political change in 2015, but argued that the need for change was now even greater.
He described the Obi-Kwankwaso ticket as a combination of regional balance, competence and credibility.
Kwankwaso also rejected the suggestion that accepting the vice-presidential position represented a reduction in his political status.
Having served as deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, governor, minister and senator, he said taking a position he had never occupied was still a step forward.
“I have never been the vice president. I think it is a step forward despite all the things you counted,” he said.
He stressed that his ambition was secondary to the need to serve the country.
“To me, being in government is to serve. I don’t have to be president. I don’t have to even be vice president. These are things that are in the hands of Almighty Allah,” he said.
Kwankwaso expressed confidence that Obi would respect their agreement and allow him to play a meaningful role if the ticket wins the 2027 election.
He said his experience in government had shown that presidents and governors benefited when their deputies were given clear responsibilities rather than being treated as mere ceremonial occupants.
Ganduje’s political decline
Kwankwaso also revisited his long-running political disagreements with former allies in Kano.
He said the experience of the past two decades had convinced him that politicians who build their careers through betrayal eventually lose political relevance.
He singled out former governor Abdullahi Ganduje, who served as his deputy for eight years before succeeding him as governor in 2015.
According to Kwankwaso, Ganduje’s political problems began when he fell out with him and abandoned the political structure that had helped him rise to power.
“If you can even see the issue of Ganduje, who we came together and supported, and became governor free of charge. The day when he started fighting was the beginning of his problem. If I may ask: where is he now? It is difficult to see him,” he said.
He maintained that Ganduje would have remained more influential had he continued to work within the political structure they built together.
Yusuf also under criticism
Kwankwaso similarly criticised Governor Abba Yusuf, accusing him of distancing himself from the political movement that supported his emergence.
He said members of the Kwankwasiyya Movement had worked extensively to produce Yusuf as their candidate in the 2019 governorship election.
Although Yusuf won that election, Kwankwaso said the result was later overturned through litigation.
He said the political structure regrouped ahead of the 2023 election and successfully secured Yusuf’s victory.
Kwankwaso, however, alleged that the governor subsequently moved away from the political camp that brought him to power.
“He left us, but he is not with Ganduje now. He is in between because I don’t think he is happy for anybody to call him Dan Gandujiyya,” he said.
He further accused Yusuf of attempting to establish himself as the dominant political force in Kano, despite the continuing influence of the political structure that produced him.
The former governor said such struggles for political dominance were common in Nigeria and were not limited to Kano.
He recalled that President Bola Tinubu once asked him to reconcile with Ganduje, but said he responded by pointing to politicians who had previously been close to Tinubu but had subsequently fallen out of his political circle.
Kwankwaso mentioned former Lagos State Deputy Governor Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele and former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode as examples.
He said political relationships could change rapidly, with people who once worked closely together eventually becoming estranged.
Kwankwaso, however, singled out former Osun State Governor, Bisi Akande, as one political associate he still regarded as a friend.
“It’s not very peculiar to Kano, but I think the Kano experience is special out of the general lots,” he said.
Leave a Reply