But the African Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council (ADC-PCC) has dismissed Kwankwaso’s response to its earlier statement as diversionary, insisting that his reaction has further raised questions about his political alignment with the All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Bola Tinubu.
The ADC-PCC had earlier advised Kwankwaso to stop attacking the ADC presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and redirect his energy towards holding the ruling APC accountable for its failures.
The Council maintained that, as an opposition figure, Kwankwaso should be challenging the Tinubu administration over the worsening economic hardship, insecurity and declining living standards confronting Nigerians, rather than repeatedly targeting Atiku and the ADC.
In a statement, yesterday, the Director of Media and Publicity of the ADC-PCC, Kola Ologbondiyan, said Kwankwaso’s response had failed to address the substance of the Council’s concerns.
According to the ADC-PCC, Kwankwaso casually mentioned the APC in his defence but devoted much of his response to attacking the ADC, a development it said raised questions about his priorities as an opposition leader.
“Why is Senator Kwankwaso making our candidate the issue instead of confronting the ruling APC, whose policies have made life increasingly difficult for millions of Nigerians?” the Council asked.
It argued that Nigerians were more concerned about hunger, insecurity, high fuel prices, the depreciation of the naira and the crushing economic hardship under the APC-led government than political exchanges among opposition figures.
The Council insisted that these national challenges should be the priority of any politician genuinely committed to providing an alternative to the Tinubu administration.