KANO — The national leader and former presidential candidate, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has fiercely dismissed reports suggesting that he is working behind the scenes to favor the re-election bid of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Kwankwaso addressed the controversy during a live broadcast interview on Global TV, systematically dismantling rumors that have circulated within Kano’s political circles since his transition from the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP).

The allegations gained significant traction after Sanusi Bature the official spokesperson for the Executive Governor of Kano State, Abba Kabir Yusuf publicly claimed that Kwankwaso was indirectly operating as a Trojan horse for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Bature alleged that Kwankwaso had clandestinely supported Tinubu’s machinery during the 2023 elections and had recently pushed for a private audience with the President that ultimately failed to materialize.

Replying directly to those statements, Kwankwaso did not mince words:

“I think only foolish people would believe that. We are not working for anybody. We are only working for the NDC. Bola Tinubu has been my senior brother and good friend up till now. But that doesn’t mean we shall pull all our political ideologies together with him. He is doing his own and I am doing my own.”

The Kingmaker Outlines Insulation in the Aso Rock Villa

The former Minister of Defence argued that while he maintains personal mutual respect for the President, the current administration is profoundly disconnected from the immediate economic hardships facing regular Nigerians.

Kwankwaso claimed that the President is effectively insulated from the harsh realities on the ground by a protective ring of political handlers who are mismanaging state affairs while selectively focusing on poaching opposition governors to artificially swell the APC’s ranks.

"Normally under the current circumstances, the president may not see what is happening," Kwankwaso explained. "And unfortunately, most of the people around him are actually the ones creating the problems. So, in those circumstances, it is difficult to see who will advise him or tell him the obvious situation."

Solidifying the NDC Alliance and Backing Peter Obi

The core of Kwankwaso's media appearance was anchored on defending his recent seismic political migration. On May 3, both Kwankwaso and the 2023 Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, formally finalized their entry into the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) at the party's national secretariat in Abuja.

The merger followed a complex, multi-week opposition alignment blueprint aimed at providing a unified, cross-regional alternative to the APC. Despite criticisms from figures like Bature—who predicted that any structural marriage between Kwankwaso's Kwankwasiyya movement and Obi's base would be short-lived—Kwankwaso revealed that his camp has completely bought into a Southern-led ticket.

[May 3, 2026]  Kwankwaso & Peter Obi formally defect to the NDC.
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[May 10, 2026] Kwankwaso officially yields the NDC Presidential Ticket to Obi.
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[May 2026]      Kwankwaso launches Northern grassroots mobilization campaign.

Kwankwaso reiterated that the party caucuses deliberately chose to zone the presidential ticket to Southern Nigeria in the spirit of geopolitical equity and federal character. After scanning available national figures, his political network concluded that Peter Obi represented the most viable asset to lead the platform.

When questioned on how he plans to mobilize the highly critical, vote-heavy states across the North-West and North-East zones for a Southern candidate, the former governor remained highly confident. Noting that there are approximately eight months left before the definitive January 16, 2027 constitutional campaign windows close, Kwankwaso stated that the coalition has ample time to dismantle institutional propaganda and present a clear blueprint for national renewal directly to the grassroots.

The former Kano Governor labels allegations of a hidden agenda "foolish," reaffirming total commitment to the newly formed NDC alliance with Peter Obi.