Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso
Political differences notwithstanding, the former Governor of Kano State and national leader of the Kwankwasiyya movement, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, says he remains willing to forgive and reconcile with Governor Abba Yusuf. He insisted that his affection for his former protégé has not diminished.
Their relationship soured after the incumbent governor defected from the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), under which he won the 2023 governorship election, to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), which drew sharp criticism from members of the Kwankwasiyya movement.
In the meantime, the national leader of the NDC, Seriake Dickson, and other leaders of the party held closed-door peace talks with aggrieved members of the party in Kano State on Monday.
In an interview on BBC Hausa on Monday, Kwankwaso, who has also defected from the NNPP to the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), where he is now the vice presidential candidate, said the door of reconciliation remains open.
Kwankwaso stressed that though Yusuf left their political fold, he would not turn him away if he decides to return, just as he forgave and welcomed anyone who left but returned, adding that he and former governor Abdullahi Ganduje fell out several times and got back together in the many years they worked together.
He insisted that Yusuf’s electoral victory was made possible by the strength of the Kwankwasiyya movement, but he left to join the people they defeated.
According to him, the movement intentionally fielded Yusuf in 2023 to demonstrate its political influence, and not because he was the most senior or the most educated. “We chose him because we wanted to test the strength and calibre of the Kwankwasiyya movement at that time.”
Meanwhile, in a statement yesterday, the NDC National Spokesperson, Osa Director, explained that the closed-door peace talks were part of efforts to resolve the primary election-related crisis between the Kwankwasiya Movement and other NDC members in the North-western state.
The director said the meeting was “productive,” adding that Senator Dickson and the NDC leadership mediated in the process “to enhance inclusion and participation by every party member.
According to him, “the NDC leadership will not impose candidates in Kano State, and indeed across the nation, as the party cherishes the virtues of internal democracy.”
Meanwhile, he stressed that the NDC has not released any official results of its 2027 primaries in any state, urging the public and party members to disregard any such list in circulation.
The statement also confirmed that a “delegation of the national leadership of the Kwankwasiya Movement last night met with Dickson and the leadership of the NDC.
