Former Kano State governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, has dismissed allegations that he is working for President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
“The allegation is false,” Kwankwaso said, “I’ve been hearing similar rumors since my days in the New Nigeria People’s Party.
He spoke in an interview with Global TV Wednesday night.
The ex-governor was reacting to claims by Kano State Governor’s spokesperson, Abba Yusuf, Sanusi Bature, who alleged that Kwankwaso was indirectly working for Tinubu’s re-election.
Kwankwaso denied the allegation, saying he belonged to the Nigeria Democratic Congress political party.
He said: “I think only foolish people would think that. We work for ourselves. We are NDC exclusively.
“Bola Tinubu has been my senior brother and good friend until now. But that doesn’t mean we’ll pull all our political ideologies together with him.
“I am doing my own, and he is doing his own.”
Bature claimed that in 2023, Kwankwaso worked for Tinubu and later asked for a direct meeting with the President, which never happened.
Kwankwaso, a former Minister of Defence, said that while he belonged to another political party, he thought the President might not be fully conversant with the situation in the country because those around him are not telling him the truth.
“Normally, under the current conditions, the president may not see what is happening. And sadly, most people around him are the ones who actually create the problems.
“So in those circumstances, it’s hard to see who will counsel him or tell him the obvious situation. And they say they are in the business of picking governors and that’s what they are doing. “Going by the number of governors now, I think APC is number one.
Why We Supported Obi
Kwankwaso also gave reasons why his camp decided to back former Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, in the NDC.
Kwankwaso and Obi joined the NDC on May 3, where talks have continued over a possible joint presidential ticket.
He said: “When we joined the NDC, we invited all our leaders from the six geopolitical zones and we sat down and looked at the situations. We then decided to unite and work as a family.
The party, in its wisdom, decided to zone the presidential ticket to the south. We looked around the zones and we realised that Peter Obi is the best candidate. That was our assessment at that time.”
Kwankwaso was asked how his popularity in the North would help Obi to mobilise votes in the North-East and North-West. He said they had enough time to convince Nigerians before the election.
“I can’t start telling our viewers that I am popular,” Kwankwaso added. I think it’s up to the people out there to say. We’re just out in the field, working very hard.
We are trying to convince the people, even those who go around saying lies to try to take advantage of our differences in the country, which should be our strength.
“And I’m happy to say that we are very lucky because from now until January 16, 2027, we have about eight months, which is plenty of time.
“Those who are spreading the lies, the lies will be revealed, and people will also be able to identify those who are telling the truth and are serious.”
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