Sanusi Bature, the spokesperson to Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf, has alleged that former NNPP national leader Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso is working behind the scenes to favor President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid while dismissing any potential political alliance between Kwankwaso and Peter Obi.
Sanusi Bature, the spokesperson to Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf, has alleged that Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, the former national leader of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), is indirectly advancing President Bola Tinubu’s interests for the 2027 presidential election. Speaking in an interview with Arise News on Wednesday, Bature insisted that the former governor of Kano is working for the president behind the scenes. According to him, there are those who work with the president openly in the public space and others who do so secretly. Backing his assertion, Bature stated: “I believe whatever Kwankwaso is doing will favour Tinubu at the end of the day because Kwankwaso worked for Tinubu in 2023. I’m a member of the APC; I have been the opposition spokesperson in Kano, and I know what happened in 2023. I believe Kwankwaso is working for Tinubu in 2027 behind the scenes.”
The governor’s spokesperson further revealed that the NNPP is undergoing severe structural shifts, noting that major party stalwarts have already recognized that the platform is no longer formidable enough to independently challenge the ruling party in the next general election. Bature disclosed that an internal consensus had previously been reached to seek alternative political avenues, pointing to the All Progressives Congress (APC) as their initial target for realignment. He explained: “The NNPP is no longer a formidable platform for 2027. There was an agreement among critical stakeholders, including Rabiu Kwankwaso, to find a lasting solution ahead of 2027 because the NNPP cannot fly on its own.” Bature added that this “Option A” strategy aimed to facilitate broader political participation for their members, including securing potential roles in the federal executive council (FEC). He claimed that although Kwankwaso initially pushed for direct negotiations with President Tinubu, the former governor later canceled a scheduled appointment, citing a trip to China, and never rescheduled the meeting.
Addressing the widespread speculation surrounding a potential joint ticket between Kwankwaso and the Labour Party’s (LP) 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, Bature dismissed the partnership as unsustainable and mathematically weak. He argued that the political dynamics, academic hierarchy, and local egos would prevent the two prominent politicians from successfully working together. Highlighting the friction, Bature stated: “A Peter Obi-Kwankwaso ticket in Kano is strange. Kwankwaso, a PhD holder, deputising Obi, who only holds a first degree, doesn’t look like the Kwankwaso we know. I don’t see this partnership working.” He concluded by predicting that such a combination would vastly underperform in the ancient commercial city compared to previous election cycles, noting: “Kwankwaso alone under NNPP was able to secure over a million votes in Kano in 2023. But believe me, in 2027, with Obi as presidential candidate and Kwankwaso as vice presidential candidate, that ticket cannot secure one million votes in Kano.”
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