A former Kano state governor and the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Alhaji Rabiu Musa Kwakwanso, boasted recently that come 2027, he will become the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. KEHINDE OSASONA in this report examines the possibility.
A dead on arrival proclamation?
With trending political activities coupled with a handful of off-season elections here and there, it would not be out of place to say that the 2027 election is indeed here.
One of the recent pointers to the fact that gladiators are already shining their arsenals ahead of 2027 is the recent boast by Kwakwanso that he was going to defeat and take over from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027.
Like a cat with nine lives, the Kano state-born politician has decided to throw his hat into the ring again, and has vowed to defeat Tinubu and his APC.
At the last presidential election, Blueprint Weekend recalls, Kwakwanso, the national leader of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), had a good showing even though his efforts were not enough to muster the required votes to make him Nigeria’s president.
The leader of the Kwankwasiyya Movement, who was also his party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, made the latest outburst a few weeks ago when he inaugurated the NNPP Secretariat in Katsina.
His party, according to him, was ready to take over the Presidency, states and other positions across the country come 2027.
“I wish to remind you that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is already dead, because we were in the party, since they have gone out of the line, we decided to check out,” he said.
But just when Kwakwanso and his Kwakwansiyya group were still basking in the euphoria of his vows, a factional member of the NNPP, Comrade Oginni Olaposi, described the 2027 presidential ambition of Kwankwaso as ‘dead on arrival”, saying he’s a jester with no moral justification to challenge President Tinubu.
Oginni, who described Kwankwaso as “a betrayer” wondered why a man who cannot manage crises within his party is now claiming to want to rule the country, saying he is not fit to be Nigeria’s president.
He said, “It is laughable for Kwankwaso who cannot solve NNPP’s crises boasting of becoming Nigeria president in 2027 with the multifaceted challenges facing the country.
“Dr. Boniface Okechukwu Aniebonam is the founder and owner of New Nigeria People’s Party. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso came in 2022 to beg Dr. Aniebonam for the platform to contest 2023 general elections. The founder of NNPP, in his benevolence, gave the platform to Kwankwaso to contest in 2023 without taking a dime from him, but he later betrayed him.
“The likes of Kwankwaso have no place in the new Nigeria of 2027. A man who is bold enough to think he can hijack the party from Dr. Aniebonam and escape with it, is not qualified to aspire to become anything again to talk less of the Presidency in Nigeria.
“Thank God that he didn’t get the appointment he was begging Tinubu for, and because of that, he has been going up and down deceiving himself that he will run for presidency in 2027 and defeat the president.
“I challenge Kwankwaso to come to open television and swear with the holy Quran before Nigerians if he doesn’t meet the President for about three days to the presidential election to pledge his support and loyalty for Tinubu’s presidency against Atiku and Obi.”
Oginni said further, “He who is coming to equity must come with clean hands. Kwankwaso is not clean enough to challenge the president in 2027. Kwankwaso is a dishonest and selfish politician who always protects his personal interest at the detriments of the other majority.
“The good news, according to Oginni, is that Kwankwaso will not have a platform of NNPP to contest in 2027. Kwankwaso and his group have been expelled from the New Nigeria People’s Party. He is currently parading the illegal Kwankwasiyya logo and expired and clueless NWC. The New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) is already in court to stop Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso’s shenanigans and irresponsible political stability.”
Atiku’s mockery
When the news filtered out, keen followers of the Nigerian political landscape described his move as “audacious,” while others flayed it, saying it was a mere political statement made out of desperation.
One of such persons who dismissed Kwakwanso’s ambition, according to a report, was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP’s) presidential flag-bearer in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar.
In a statement credited to Atiku via his X handle, the Special Assistant on Media (Broadcast) to Atiku, Abdul Rasheeth, quoted Atiku as saying, “It was funny that the former Minister Defence who got only 1.4 million votes in the last 2023 election, would make such a bold claim.
“Imagine you ran for President and received 1.4 million votes: One million from Kano and 400,000 from all over Nigeria. You believe you can win against Tinubu,” Atiku’s aide said on his X handle.
Things fallen apart?
But more than any other responses, many were taken aback that Atiku, a political ally, would be quick in dismissing Kwakwanso’s aspiration in a mocking manner.
Findings by Blueprint Weekend revealed that were it not for some last minute ditch, key opposition leaders, who were exploring a merger to challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 elections, would have commenced work in earnest. And to think that Atiku could make such a statement against Kwakwanso according to a political commentator,
Olufunminiyi Ajayi, who described the opposition leaders as “strange bedfellows.”
In an exclusive chat with this reporter, Ajayi said, “If it’s true that Atiku made such a statement against Kwakwanso, then they are truly strange bedfellows with no spiritual camaraderie and political ideology binding them as commonly said by Nigerians.
“Come to think of it, the Kwakwanso in question for me will appear more acceptable in 2027 than Atiku; so, if he was trying to market himself ahead of the planned merger or no merger, I see no reason Atiku should be jittery. I am saying this because that statement was borne out of jitters. The fear of the unknown may have enveloped the Wazirin Adamawa.
“Having said that, it would be a Herculean task to defeat Tinubu who wrestled power from known cabals; it’s a political party that is expanding its frontiers by the day.
“Did you see what happened in Edo recently? Ondo will soon join and rather than align properly and settle among themselves who is taking what, they are already busy antagonising one another.” Ajayi said.
Amidst the backlash and back-biting in the political parlance, the main opposition People Democratic Party (PDP), according to a reliable source in the PDP Secretariat in Abuja, is still working hard to bring Atiku, Obi, Kwankwaso, and other leaders that had left back into the PDP.
‘No shaking’
However, while dismissing the opposition, the APC’s Director of Publicity, Alhaji Bala Ibrahim, was once quoted as saying, “They are not a threat to the APC at all. In fact, it will be to the comfort of the APC to have these people again in the race, and the party is going to thrash them.
“When you look at the trio of Atiku, Kwankwaso, and Obi, these are permanent contestants, with Atiku being a serial loser of elections. Whatever happens, Atiku is not going to give in.
“So, we are aware of these shenanigans; we are aware of the circumstances. So, we will wait for them. 2027 is a long way from now, but the APC is not going to lose sleep over this issue because these are parallel lines that will never meet.
“Politics is all about give and take; it’s all about compromise. But when you have people coming to politics with a one-way mindset of being contestants only, they are not politicians.”
Although 2027 is still far, it would be suicidal to dismiss any threat of take-over, especially that it’s coming from a savvy politician with mere wave of the hand.
However, it remains to be seen how Kwakwanso, amidst internal wrangling tearing him and his factionalised NNPP apart, intends to actualise his age-long ambition.