Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, the vice-presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has disputed former Borno State Governor Ali Modu Sheriff’s allegations that his coalition with Peter Obi will struggle to get traction in Kano and Northern Nigeria.
In an interview with Channels Television on Monday, Kwankwaso claimed Sheriff was only attempting to please President Bola Tinubu and argued that even his political opponents accept his dominance in Kano.
“My humble self, Ali Modu Sheriff, and his companion Bola Tinubu were all members of the All Progressive Congress. We understand ourselves extremely well. Until now, I’ve communicated with them, particularly Senator Ali Sheriff,” he stated.
He went on: “I heard him when he was here, but I can tell you he wasn’t serious about it. He merely wanted to impress our brother in the Villa and convince him that he was working.”
Kwankwaso claimed that his political strength in Kano is generally known.
“Even the worst enemies will tell you that Kwankwaso has Kano,” he remarked.
He stated he enjoys opponents’ attempts to underestimate him, describing it as politically beneficial.
“I am not one of the politicians who go out there bragging, most of the time I feel happy when people decide to underrate me or what I can do because it sends people to sleep while we are working,” he remarked.
The former Kano Governor was confident that neither Kano nor northern Nigeria will depart the NDC coalition.
According to him, “Whether anyone has the ability to steal votes from us in Kano, or anywhere in northern Nigeria, is simply a matter of waiting. By God’s blessing, the decent people of Kano State, and indeed northern Nigeria, are vastly different from what he attempted to portray here.”
Kwankwaso also refuted Sheriff’s claim that Peter Obi could not win significant votes in the North, citing Obi’s previous election performance.
“Peter is not new to overseeing an election in northern Nigeria. In the previous election, he ran for office himself and received almost two million votes in northern Nigeria. “By any standard, two million is a huge number,” he remarked.
Peter Obi is still a powerful political force in northern Nigeria, according to the speaker. People who voted for him back then are still alive today.”
According to Kwankwaso, the alliance between the Kwankwasiyya Movement and Obi’s supporters would transform the political environment ahead of the 2027 election.
“This combination of Obidients and Kwankwasiyya will spring a lot of surprises, especially from the young men and women who are not too worried about some of the sentiments Ali Modu Sheriff and other people are trying to paint,” he said.