By Sikiru Obarayese
A close ally of Rabiu Kwankwaso, the 2023 presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Yusuf Sharada, has confirmed that the ruling party is seeking to attract politicians from Kano ahead of the 2027 general election.
The recent resignation of Abdullahi Ganduje as the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has sparked new speculation about the ruling party’s strategic maneuvers for the upcoming elections, with strong indications that the party is actively courting Kwankwaso.
Sharada made these confirmations during an appearance on Channels Television’s “Sunrise Daily” program on Tuesday.
Sharada asserted that the APC, recognising its waning popularity in Kano, a state with significant voting strength, has been “wooing Senator Kwankwaso to join them in the APC knowing his antecedents and his mass followership.”
However, he noted the ruling party’s persistent efforts to bring Kwankwaso into their fold, driven by the understanding that “politics is about numbers and they know that he has the numbers, especially from Kano and the core North-Western part of the country.”
Members of the Kwankwasiyya movement believe that Ganduje’s resignation as APC National Chairman might be part of a broader strategy by the ruling party to draw Kwankwaso away from the NNPP.
“They have been wooing Senator Kwankwaso to join them in the APC knowing his antecedents and his mass followership. Of course, it is their political permutations.
“Senator Kwankwaso stayed away from the APC because he is not in tandem with what they are doing as a government. They have been insisting that they want him to join them. Politics is about numbers and they know that he has the numbers, especially from Kano and the core North-Western part of the country.”
He explained that Kwankwaso’s followers value him “more than any platform or party that he is in because of his antecedent and the way he impacted so many lives in that part of the country.”
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