Former Kano State governor and leader of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Rabiu Kwankwaso, has dismissed allegations that he is secretly working for President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Kwankwaso spoke during an interview with Global TV on Wednesday night, describing the claims as false and politically motivated.
The former governor was reacting to comments made by Sanusi Bature, spokesperson to Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf, who alleged that Kwankwaso had been supporting Tinubu behind the scenes and once sought a private meeting with the president.
Rejecting the allegation, Kwankwaso said there was no alliance between him and Tinubu, insisting that his political movement was focused solely on the NDC.
“Only foolish people would believe that. We are not working for anybody. We are only working for NDC,” he said.
Kwankwaso, however, acknowledged his long-standing relationship with Tinubu, describing the president as a senior colleague and friend, while stressing that friendship does not mean political alignment.
“Bola Tinubu has been my senior brother and good friend up till now. But that doesn’t mean we shall merge our political ideologies together,” he added.
The former minister of defence also claimed that Tinubu may not fully understand the hardship facing Nigerians because people around him are allegedly shielding him from the realities in the country.
According to him, many of those close to the president are more focused on political calculations and attracting governors into the ruling APC rather than addressing national issues.
Kwankwaso also spoke about the newly formed NDC coalition involving himself and former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi.
He said the coalition decided to support Obi after consultations across the six geopolitical zones, maintaining that Obi emerged as the preferred southern candidate within the alliance.
“When we joined the NDC, we invited our leaders from across the country and agreed to work together as one family,” he said.
“The party zoned the presidential ticket to the south, and after consultations, we concluded that Peter Obi was the best candidate at that time.”
Kwankwaso expressed confidence that the coalition still had enough time before the 2027 elections to convince Nigerians and counter what he described as misinformation from political.
