The African Democratic Congress (ADC) Presidential Campaign Council (ADC-PCC) has berated the Vice Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, over his call on former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar to step down for Peter Obi, describing the statement as reckless.
Atiku is the Presidential candidate of the ADC for the 2027 election.
Kola Ologbondiyan, Director of Media and Publicity, ADC Presidential Campaign Council, in a statement on Friday described the statement credited to Kwankwaso as self-serving and a desperate attempt to advance President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s political interests ahead of the presidential election.
Ologbondiyan said he was reacting to Kwankwaso’s interview on Channels Television and accused the former Kano State governor of focusing on opposition leaders rather than confronting the President Tinubu’s administration that “Nigerians are desperate to vote out.”
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Ologbondiyan declared that Atiku would win Kano State (Kwankwaso’s home state) in the presidential election with or without Kwankwaso’s support, stressing that the “hardship, hunger, poverty and insecurity confronting Nigerians would ultimately determine their choices at the polls.”
He noted that Kwankwaso’s position was particularly curious given his own political alignment with Peter Obi and the NDC, arguing that, as a member of the opposition seeking to unseat the incumbent government, his priority should be building a stronger opposition rather than attempting to undermine another opposition leader.
“Rather than campaigning against President Tinubu, whose administration Nigerians are eagerly working to vote out, Kwankwaso is fixated on Atiku Abubakar, the ADC candidate, whom millions of Nigerians believe can restore economic stability and make life affordable again.”
“Having reportedly described the office of the Vice President as a ‘spare tyre’, he appears more concerned about positioning himself for the 2031 presidential election rather than addressing the urgent challenges confronting Nigerians today,” Ologbondiyan said.
The ADC-PCC spokesman argued that Kwankwaso’s conduct raised questions about his actual political preferences for 2027, suggesting that his actions appeared more beneficial to the ruling APC than supporting any of the opposition candidates.
Ologbondiyan, however, maintained that history did not support the assumption that Kwankwaso’s political influence was indispensable to any presidential candidate seeking victory in Kano.
Citing the 2003 and 2007 presidential elections, Ologbondiyan recalled that former President Muhammadu Buhari secured victories in Kano despite not enjoying Kwankwaso’s support, arguing that Atiku could equally win the state in 2027.
“What Kwankwaso is doing amounts to advancing President Tinubu’s interests. It is a familiar APC strategy to use willing collaborators within the opposition to create confusion, sow division and weaken the collective efforts to bring about political change.
“Nigerians are wiser than that and will not allow themselves to be distracted by political manoeuvres designed to rescue an unpopular administration,” he said.
Ologbondiyan further accused Kwankwaso of having a history of political manoeuvring that, in his view, placed personal ambition above the collective interests of opposition parties.
He alleged that Kwankwaso’s latest intervention was less about strengthening Peter Obi’s presidential prospects than positioning himself for future political negotiations ahead of 2031.
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