ABUJA, Nigeria — The 2023 presidential candidate of Nigeria’s New Nigeria Peoples Party, Rabiu Kwankwaso, dismissed claims during a television interview on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, that he is supporting the 2027 re-election campaign of Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu.
Okay News reports that Kwankwaso described the allegations as false and misleading during his appearance on Global TV. The response followed recent comments made by Sanusi Bature, the spokesperson for Nigeria’s Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, who alleged during an interview on Arise News that the former party leader was indirectly supporting the second-term ambition of the president.
Kwankwaso stated that only foolish people would believe the allegations. “I think only foolish people would believe that. We are not working for anybody. We are only working for NDC,” he said.
The former Minister of Defence acknowledged his longstanding relationship with the president but stressed that friendship does not translate into political alignment. “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,” Kwankwaso added.
Kwankwaso criticized the current administration, alleging that the president may not be fully aware of national realities due to the actions of those surrounding him. “Normally, under the current circumstances, the president may not see what is happening. 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. What they mall tell and what they are doing is to pick governors. I think going by the number of governors now, APC is number one,” he said.
He confirmed that political talks are ongoing within the Nigeria Democratic Congress, noting that the coalition resolved to support Peter Obi as its preferred southern presidential candidate. “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 come together and work as a family. The party, in its own wisdom, decided to zone the presidential ticket to the south. We looked around across the zones, and we realised that Peter Obi is the best candidate. That was our assessment at that particular time,” he said.
Kwankwaso stated that the coalition has enough time to mobilize support across the country ahead of the upcoming election. “We are trying to convince the people, even those who are going about telling lies to try to take advantage of our differences in the country, which should be our strength; we are working on that. And I am happy to say that we are very lucky because from now till January 16, 2027, we have about eight months, which is enough time,” he said.
