…Dismisses suggestions of political hostility among opposition figures
Former presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabiu Kwankwaso, has revealed why he decided to form an alliance with former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
Speaking during an interview on Arise Television’s Prime Time programme on Monday, Kwankwaso said the North is returning to the political approach adopted by Tafawa Balewa and Ahmadu Bello during their time.
According to him, during the Second Republic, former President Shehu Shagari also worked closely with leaders from the South East.
The former Kano State governor stated that the people of the South East are friends of the North, noting that the region wants to work together with them.
“From my experience as former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, I had the opportunity to work with my Speaker, and we worked very well.
“Now we’re going back to what Tafawa Balewa and Ahmadu Bello did during their time, and in the Second Republic, what Shehu Shagari and others did with the leadership of the South East.
“But for me, it wasn’t just because we are going to the South East. No, I looked around together with our leadership in the North to ask who we think is capable, who can come and work honestly with us so that we can move this country forward.
“And along the line, we realized that Peter Obi is at the forefront of it, and that’s why we all accepted to work together,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kwankwaso, has said his decision to leave the African Democratic Congress, ADC, alongside Mr Peter Obi, was not borne out of any rift with former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar.
Kwankwaso said they exited the party after identifying what he described as unresolved internal issues that could affect the ADC’s ability to field candidates in future elections.
According to him, “Peter Obi himself decided to leave ADC not because we are fighting with Atiku Abubakar or anybody there. We decided to leave that party because we realized that there are some issues as it stands now.
“They have three major issues, which we believe, from our own side, are very difficult to resolve and field candidates.”
The former presidential candidate added that whether the ADC would eventually be able to present candidates remained uncertain.
Kwankwaso also dismissed suggestions of political hostility among the opposition figures, noting that political contests should not be viewed as personal battles.
Recalling previous presidential primaries, he said he had contested alongside Atiku and other politicians in the past without animosity.
“I remember in 2015 we had primary Lagos. Buhari was number one, I was number two, he was number three, Rochas Okorocha was number four, and late Isaiah was number five.
“There was an election again in 2019 in which he won the election. I was his coordinator for the North. We worked for him. Politics is just like a game. I’m not fighting anybody, and I’m not expecting anybody to fight me,” he said.