…says Kano Gov, his supporters have no chance in 2027
Chief Ladipo Johnson is the National Publicity Secretary of the New Nigeria People’s Party. In this interview with OLAOLU OLADIPO, he talked about recent developments within the party with regards to the defection of the National Leader of the party, Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, to the African Democratic Congress, (ADC). Excerpts:
The decision of your party to join the coalition, ADC, came like a bit of surprise. Can you just let us into the reason it (decision) took place and some of the concessions reached between the two sides before what happened on Tuesday?
Well, the first thing is that the party, the NNPP, has not joined the coalition. What happened is that Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and some individual members of the NNPP, mainly those in the Kwankwasiyya Movement, decid- ed to join this broad coalition that is being built or developed. So they went in their individual capacity and that is the situation. The NNPP still remains.
What is the position of your party regarding the move? Was there any kind of tacit approval from the leadership of your party before these individuals joined the coalition platform?
Yes, there was express approval in the sense that we are an opposition party. And we realise that we need to build a grand coalition to present a credible alternative, a credible and formidable alternative to the inept government that we have at present, and in that line, we know that we all have to sacrifice personal ambition and things like that to make sure that the whole thing works. So, the party in that context accepted and approved the move, knowing that we would be working in a sort of alignment with the ADC.
Where does that leave you party? What benefit do you think the NNPP will derive in the long run from being part of this coalition?
(Cuts in) The most important benefit for the NNPP in the long run is that we believe that Nigeria will become better. Are you talking about positions and things like that?
I am asking about the general benefits that would accrue to the party and its membership?
I think the ADC knows that we are now cousins. We are now cousins. We belong to the same house. I can even go as far as saying that we are cousins with people like those in the NDC. People like Senator Se- riake Dickson. We are cousins with people like Governor Seyi Makinde. It’s a grand plan that is being developed, but some people will not lose their identity in the process.
Some of the parties will not lose their identity in the process but we are working together to properly fashion out what is good for the country. It is work in progress. The reason for the rush is because of this new amended Electoral Act that says we must all register electronically within a given time frame which is short.
If it were not that, it would have taken some more time. So I thank the APC and the National Assembly and Mr. President for their selfish act in trying to tweak the Electoral Act to please themselves; they have invariably helped us or helped the leaders of the opposition to come together quicker.
Does that not suggest that your party will not field candidates to contest the forthcoming general election?
Most likely, we will all support the presidential and vice-presidential tickets and then I think the leadership of all the parties will sit down and see what will happen down the line but I know that those who want to contest for Senate, for Reps in the party who have said that they will not be moving to the ADC but they’ll do it within our party, but that for the presidential, for the main thing, we will all work towards the same person.
The defection of Kwankwaso caused some buzz in the media space. Does that suggest he’s a factor in the North? From what you can see as an insider, what do you think his participation in this coalition will be like at the forth- coming general elections? What is he bringing to the table?
Well, I think that anyone who is involved in politics will ultimately bring one thing or the other to the table. In politics you bring different things. Some people don’t bring crowds, they bring money. Some people bring credibility. Some peo- ple bring experience.
So Engineer Kwankwaso, I’m sure the members of the ADC will be happier today that he’s within their fold and that he’s backing them, or he will be working on their behalf towards 2027 and bringing the 2027 election. You see, when you talk about the North, he’s one of the major players there. You have a lot of Northern leaders. You have former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
People like Nasir el-Rufai and the likes. So, the leadership of ADC realise that having Kano on board makes a hell of a difference to them because when you have a state that its votes can wipe out the votes of about five states and you have someone who time and time again has been able to deliver, politically speaking, that state, then I don’t think that that per- son should not be belittled in any way. Your question was multifaceted.
As you said, there is a lot of buzz in the media now. It is not a conqueror generating the buzz. It is the expectations of people in Nigeria, the hopes and aspirations that are now being met in the realignment of the ADC and the opposition camp that is leading to this buzz. People are happy. People are calling us and saying, ‘finally, we’re working towards a party that will give these people a run for their money.’
You are very close to him, and you are one of his aides, or should I say, if I’m not wrong, one of his disciples. Will he be contesting the presidency again?
I don’t think I want to answer by limiting him, by either saying, yes, he will contest the presidency, or he will contest the Senate because he hasn’t discussed this with me but what I know for certain is that his eyes are not closed or shut by ambition.
He has decided to go into a team, and what he has shown us over the years is that he is a team player. Over the years, if you look at 2014, we lost to former President (Muhammadu) Buhari. We came second in the APC primaries. We still supported the ticket. We supported the ticket heavily.
Look at what former President Buhari got in Kano. In 2019, he lost in Port Harcourt, at the PDP primaries, but he still supported the Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. So, he’s a team player, and I am certain, that assurance I can give anyone, that whichever way the primaries go, he will still work. Having agreed to join this coalition, he will still work for the coalition.
Why do you think he opted for the ADC, rather than joining the ruling party?
The first time he met with Mr. President was in January 2024 and they didn’t discuss anything to do with defection or anything, and therein is the answer to the second part of your question. The APC was never an option for him and that is why you saw that when those who wanted to go to the APC saw his body language, and saw that he was not willing to go, then they started to move.
I mean, members of House of Reps, later on other members of the party, later again, the Governor and then some other members of the party that moved also with the Governor. They saw his body language, because Engr Kwankwaso is a man of the people and he is very pained at the moment that insecurity is so high in the country as we speak, that the economy is so bad, inflation is still in double digits, the Naira has lost value, some say it is improving, it hasn’t improved until you take it back to about N400, which the government met it.
For me, it hasn’t improved. So with all these indices, it doesn’t make sense to him that you say that you have stopped subsidies to have more money, yet, you are willing to subsidise the stomach infrastructure. You stopped payment of subsidies on petrol, but you are willing to bribe people to stay in power. All these things are not palatable to us in the Kwankwaso Movement.
So I tell you the APC, especially in the last three years, has not been an option. It hasn’t and whichever way it goes, we will stand with the people and tell them that you are being unfair to Nigeria. You are living and continuing to live your lifestyle, while you are asking the average man on the street to tighten his belt. You haven’t tightened your belt at all. I’m talking about all of them now, not just the President. So that is the answer.
You spoke glowingly about your leader being the political genius, who decides political trends in Kano State. Don’t you think the Governor being in the APC, with the likes of former Chairman of the APC, Alhaji Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and some other prominent people will pose some threat to him come 2027?
(Cuts in) Do you know why it is not a threat, or that they are not threatening him in any way? It is because it is not about Kwankwaso but the people. We keep making the mistake. Engr. Kwankwaso will not tell you that he is the one delivering Kano. It is the people of Kano.
They are the ones that gave Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf a mandate, because they were bitter about the mismanagement of the state during Ganduje’s eight years’ reign.
They are even more bitter now because Abba Yusuf took the mandate, the sacred mandate of the people, and betrayed them, and took it back to the people they voted against. Not just voted against, they stood with him. From Tribunal, to Court of Ap- peal, to Supreme Court, to Emirates issue, they stood with him.
They stood with the party. They stood with us. So it is not about us. It is not about Kwankwaso or Kwankwasiyya Movement. It is about the people of Kano and when people understand that, they will know that the Governor and his people do not have a chance in 2027.
And you believe that the people will come out to side with Kwankwaso next year?
The people will come out to vote against the APC. It is not to side with Kwankwaso. They will come out to vote against the APC because they know how much rice is now, and everything.
Although they know that expectedly, when election comes down, they will start to share all sorts. If it is not the sons sharing, the father will send, the party will send, and they will keep t-shirts on, and everything. They will share all sorts. But I think the people are getting wiser. I pray they are getting wiser.
