The Presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, (NNPP) in the last general election, Rabiu Kwankwaso, would not defect to the ruling All Progressives Congress, (APC), sources from party have confirmed.
The party was reacting to the recent meeting between Kwankwaso and the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, in Paris, France, which had fuelled speculation about his defection to the APC.
The National Publicity Secretary of the NNPP, Dr Major Agbo, at a press conference in Abuja, assured the party faithful that there was nothing wrong with the meeting and described Kwankwaso as a detribalised politician with friends across political and religious divides.
“I don’t want you to be afraid that he is going anywhere. He is not going anywhere. Like I said, he is one man whose relationship cuts across all political platforms. You will see more of that,” Agbo said.
He said the electoral victory of Kano State Governor-elect, Abba Kabir, and his Deputy, Aminu Gwarzo, would usher in a new dawn.
Meanwhile, the aides of Tinubu and Kwankwaso expressed optimism about the renewed alliance between their principals, saying it signposts what an inclusive government should look like.
The development came three weeks after both politicians met in Paris during the working visit of the president-elect.
Although their meeting generated some heat among their followers who felt their newfound romance could breed bad blood among those who worked hard for Tinubu’s victory at the poll.
But one of Tinubu’s political allies and former Director-General of his support group, Abdulmumin Jibrin, dismissed such fear.
The Kano rep-elect, who had defected from the ruling APC to the NNPP, said both Tinubu and Kwankwaso met to discuss how they could work together for the sake of national unity, cohesion and development.
His view was corroborated by Tinubu’s media officer, Tunde Rahman, who told one of our correspondents that Tinubu, through his recent phone conversation with the United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and his meeting with Kwankwanso, demonstrated that he is all for an inclusive government.
