2027: “I Didn’t Say I Will Not Join” – Kwankwaso 

Former presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in the 2023 election, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, has revealed the conditions under which he would consider defecting to another party.

Kwankwaso announced on Thursday that he is prepared to join the All Progressives Congress (APC), provided he and his supporters are guaranteed to be valued within the party. This declaration was made during an interaction with his supporters.

The former Kano State Governor also boasted that he was one of the founding leaders of the APC, but left because, during the tenure of former President Muhammadu Buhari, they were not given any recognition or compensation for their roles in taking the party to power.

He added that for him and his people to move back to the APC, as being clamoured in some political quarters, there must be solid agreements on what they’ll benefit.

Kwankwaso further disclosed that he dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) also because he was neglected.

Ahead of the 2027 elections, the politician said that after leaving the parties, he has gained value and now is in no hurry to leave the NNPP, adding that he is ready to work with any party, including the PDP and the APC, as long as there is assurance that the other party would be truthful in their dealings.

“If you said I should enter APC, I want to join APC, and I didn’t say I will not join APC even now, but for what position?

“In this country, who will tell us about the struggle to establish the APC? We are the ones who established the party. We are the leaders of the APC. We challenged the federal government then and faced many threats from the EFCC, ICPC, police, SSS, and others.

“If you say we should join APC, we agree to it, but tell us what the NNPP will get. Give us the answer, and we will agree to join, but don’t take us back to when we were neglected. During the APC’s 8 years under Buhari, we were not given anything, not even a ‘thank you,’ because our faction of the PDP didn’t start with them.

“When we left for PDP, even PDP couldn’t give us a Zonal Chairman. They thought if we left, we would enter a bush and die. After we left the party, we gained value, and now we have value. 

Whoever you are, if you mention Nigerian politicians, you must mention Kwankwaso. When I was in the APC or PDP, they didn’t value me. We were working for irresponsible people, and when they won elections, they did not consider us or value us.

“We’re not in a hurry to leave the NNPP; we’re happy. However, if there is anyone who wants to work with us truthfully and will not abandon us as before, we are ready. Even if the PDP comes back and says they made a mistake and will do this and that, let’s make promises where everyone can see them,” he declared.