Vice-presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Rabiu Kwankwaso, has explained why he wants former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race and support Peter Obi, the party’s presidential candidate.
Kwankwaso said his appeal was informed by his longstanding political relationship with Atiku and the need to make way for a new political arrangement ahead of the 2027 general election.
He spoke on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, where he confirmed that he wanted Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), to step down.
Asked whether he was insisting that Atiku should abandon his presidential ambition, the former Kano State governor replied: “Well, yes.”
Kwankwaso disclosed that he recently used a visit by a group of Fulani people from across the country to encourage them to speak with Atiku about withdrawing from the race.
“I had some people, coincidentally, a group of Fulanis from across the country who came for a courtesy visit to my house. And I thought it was an opportunity for me, really, to talk to them and ask them that they should create time before they go back to their towns and villages to talk to him,” he said.
He stressed that his position was not driven by personal animosity, noting that he had known Atiku for decades and had worked closely with him on several political projects.
“His Excellency Vice-President Atiku Abubakar is somebody that I know fairly well. And we have done so much together with him in the past. In fact, more than anybody who is around him today,” Kwankwaso said.
Recounting their political history, Kwankwaso traced their relationship to 1993, when both men were involved in the political movement led by the late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua.
“I remember in 1993, he was in our group under the leadership of General Shehu Musa Yar’adua and he was our choice for the presidential candidate of the SDP,” he said.
“We supported him. We did everything possible to make him our candidate of the SDP. And when it didn’t work out, of course, we tried also under General Shehu Musa Yar’adua to ensure that we got the ticket of the Vice-President.”
He recalled that their efforts did not succeed, but said they remained politically connected in the years that followed. In 1999, Kwankwaso was governor-elect of Kano State when the group elected Olusegun Obasanjo as its presidential candidate in Jos.
“It didn’t work. And we thank Almighty God we are still alive in 1999. I was Governor-Elect of Kano when we elected His Excellency Olusegun Obasanjo in Jos, the same Jos that we went in 1993,” he said.
Kwankwaso said he was close to Atiku during that period, when Atiku became Obasanjo’s running mate and later vice-president.
“And at the end of the day, of course, Obasanjo won. And I know he played some roles because I was very close to him, I was Governor-Elect at that time and he was Vice-president, and we were very happy,” he said.
He also recalled Atiku’s political activities in 2003 and the support he received from Kano State during the 2007 presidential election.
“And also, in 2003, he played a lot of roles. And I think that’s a very long story, maybe one of these days we will have an opportunity to discuss it. So also in 2007, almost 90% of our votes from Kano were given to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar,” Kwankwaso said.
He noted that they belonged to different political parties at various points, explaining that Atiku was in the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in 2007, while he was not a member of the party.
Kwankwaso further recalled that they worked together in 2011 and later contested for the APC presidential ticket ahead of the 2015 general election, which was won by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
“In 2015, I’m sure you know we were all aspirants in the APC. Buhari was number one, I was number two, he was number three. That’s 2015, so you can go on and on,” he said.
Kwankwaso maintained that asking Atiku to step aside should not be interpreted as a personal attack, insisting that their shared political history informed his appeal.
“What I’m trying to say is that we are not against him. The two sides, we’ve worked together with him so everything has time,” he said.
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