President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nigeria’s Head of State and Government, is expected to meet Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, the 2023 presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), after fresh discussions involving Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf intensified speculation about political realignments ahead of Nigeria’s next election cycle.
Okay News reports that Governor Yusuf, who leads Kano State in northern Nigeria, visited the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital, on Monday, 19 January 2026, in what sources described as part of a last-minute effort to persuade Kwankwaso and his political structure to align with the ruling party.
Sources familiar with the engagement said the closed-door meeting at the Villa lasted roughly an hour and included top officials around the President. Among those listed as present were Senator Godswill Akpabio, Nigeria’s President of the Senate and head of the upper chamber of the National Assembly; Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila; and the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nigeria’s ruling party.
According to the sources, the central focus was Kwankwaso’s conditions for joining the APC and whether President Tinubu should personally intervene after the governor’s attempts to convince him reportedly stalled. The governor was said to have asked the President to grant Kwankwaso an audience to deepen the persuasion effort and clarify what would make a political switch acceptable to him and his followers.
“Nothing really significant was discussed during the meeting apart from issue of persuading Kwankwaso to join the APC. The issue of Kwankwaso is what matters to Mr President,” said the source.
The same account dismissed claims that the Kano governor used the meeting to press for guaranteed nominations for himself or lawmakers who may move with him ahead of future elections, suggesting such a demand would be unlikely in that setting. The source said “no governor dares look into the president’s eyes and make that demand.”
Beyond Abuja, the political move has also played out inside Kano, Nigeria’s most populous state and one of the country’s biggest voting blocs. About two weeks earlier, Governor Yusuf reportedly visited Kwankwaso at his residence on Miller Road in Kano metropolis, Kano’s state capital, following calls by members of the Kano State House of Assembly who wanted a direct appeal made to the former governor to engage the President.
With the new invitation now in play, sources said the President is expected to host Kwankwaso at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday, 20 January 2026, while the Kano governor may submit his resignation from the NNPP on Wednesday, 21 January 2026, unless there is a late change triggered by the anticipated talks.
Kwankwaso had also been expected to travel to Kano on Tuesday, 20 January 2026, but the trip was reportedly called off following the invitation to Abuja, adding to the sense that high-level political bargaining is underway behind the scenes.
