Only fools will believe I am working for Tinubu — Kwankwaso

Former Kano State governor and Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) chieftain, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has rejected allegations that he is working in the interest of President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 presidential election, describing those who believe such claims as foolish.

Kwankwaso, who spoke in an interview on Global TV, said the rumours had been in circulation since his time in the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) and were without basis.

“I think only foolish people would believe that. We are not working for anybody. We are only working for Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC,” he said.

The denial followed allegations by Sanusi Bature, spokesperson for Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, that Kwankwaso had worked for Tinubu during the 2023 elections and had recently sought a direct meeting with the president. Kwankwaso did not deny his personal relationship with Tinubu but insisted it had no bearing on his political direction.

“Bola Tinubu has been my senior brother and good friend up till now. But that doesn’t mean we shall pull all our political ideologies together with him. He is doing his own and I am doing my own,” he said.

The former Minister of Defence also suggested that the president was being shielded from the true state of affairs in the country by those closest to him. “Most of the people around him are actually the ones creating the problems,” Kwankwaso said, adding that it had become difficult for anyone to offer the president honest counsel.

On the NDC’s alignment with former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi — who both men joined on May 3 — Kwankwaso said the decision to back Obi for the presidential ticket followed consultations with party leaders across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.

“The party, in its own wisdom, decided to zone the presidential ticket to the South. We looked around across the zones and we realised that Peter Obi is the best candidate. That was our assessment at that particular time,” he said.

Dismissing Bature’s suggestion that the Kwankwaso-Obi alliance would be short-lived, Kwankwaso said his coalition had approximately eight months before the January 2027 deadline to convince Nigerians, and expressed confidence that the truth would eventually prevail.

“Those who are telling the lies, the lies will come out and people will also identify those who are telling the truth and are serious,” he said.