Unfolding reality is suggesting that Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in the 2023 Presidential election, could join the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Kwankwaso, who is being speculated to eye the APC for some time now, sources close to him hinted that he is willing to return to the party, on one condition, which is that he wants to return to the party with his political structure, the Kwankwasiyya Movement.
The movement founded by him, during his second coming as governor of Kano State, is made up of individuals within the Northern part of Nigeria that are fanatically committed to what is believed to be his pro-poor ideology..
The visible symbol of the movement is a red cap, which is said to represent the struggle for the upliftment of the poor, commonly referred to in Northern Nigeria as ‘Talakawa’, which implies the Masses. In English Language.
Kwankwaso has recently indicated what many people within the North have been expecting him to announce set to rejoin the APC again, when he told his supporters during a meeting that he can only join the party “ on the basis of clear agreements that guarantee recognition for my political movement, the Kwankwasiyya”.
He insisted that his Kwankwasiyya Movement matters a lot to him and he cannot abandon his People for anything. Kwankwaso recalled his role in the formation of the APC, stressing that he and his allies paid the price to build the party but were sidelined throughout its eight years in power under President Muhammadu Buhari.
“If you said I should enter APC, I want to join APC, and I didn’t say I will not join APC even now, but for what position?” Kwankwaso asked.
He added, “We are the ones who established the APC. We are the leaders of the APC. We challenged the federal government then and faced many threats from the EFCC, ICPC, police, SSS, and others. But when the APC came to power, they gave us nothing—not even a thank you—because our faction of the PDP didn’t start with them.”
Kwankwaso said his group was also neglected by the PDP when they returned, noting that the party could not even offer him a zonal chairman position. According to him, the experience gave his movement more political value and independence.
“We’re not in a hurry to leave the NNPP; we’re happy. However, if there is anyone who wants to work with us truthfully and will not abandon us as before, we are ready,” he said. “Even if the PDP comes back and says they made a mistake, let’s make promises where everyone can see them.”
Kwankwaso, a former defence minister and two-time presidential candidate, emphasised that his political structure is now a force that cannot be ignored in Nigerian politics.
