A CHIEFTAIN of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Buba Galadima, has poured cold water on speculations that former Kano State governor and NNPP leader, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, may align with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday monitored by News Point Nigeria, Galadima accused the Tinubu-led Federal Government of working against Kwankwaso’s political base in Kano by backing the contested Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero, despite his removal by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of the NNPP.
“How can a Kwankwaso be a friend of the APC with what they are doing to us in Kano? Appointing two emirs in one town? There is a Federal Government emir and a state emir. Who’s got the responsibility to appoint emirs and pay them their salaries?” Galadima queried.
The NNPP stalwart alleged that the Federal Government was using the police and security agencies to prop up Emir Bayero, while violent crimes in some Kano communities were being ignored.
“They have their emirs. They have not less than 40 pickup vehicles filled with mobile police guarding the Emir (Ado Bayero).
“In some localities in Kano, people are being killed and their handsets taken, while the police are tied down. Are they not ashamed?” he asked.
Galadima also suggested that Tinubu himself had once lobbied for the reinstated Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II, who returned to the throne on May 23, 2024, after Governor Yusuf nullified Bayero’s appointment.
The development has since been locked in court battles, with both Sanusi and Bayero maintaining rival palaces under heavy security protection.
“In the first place, was it not Tinubu who canvassed for Sanusi to become emir? Let him come out and tell me that he didn’t, and I will give him instances,” Galadima added.
Galadima dismissed any notion that Kwankwaso could be persuaded or coerced into supporting Tinubu’s re-election bid, insisting that the NNPP was strong enough to determine Nigeria’s political direction in 2027.
“Let anybody come out and tell me that he met Kwankwaso and he canvassed or persuaded him or coerced him to join the APC.
“I assume if anybody talks to him about that, I ought to know. He is the strongest political Iroko in this country today because he dared the APC and defeated them at their game in Kano,” Galadima said.
He boasted: “We are the people who will determine who will be the President of Nigeria in 2027.”
Kano has historically been a prized battleground in Nigeria’s presidential contests due to its massive voter base. In the 2023 presidential election, the state produced about 1.7 million votes, the highest from any state in the country.
Kwankwaso, running on the NNPP platform, secured 997,279 votes and won 38 out of 44 local government areas in Kano. Tinubu of the APC polled 517,341 votes, Atiku Abubakar of the PDP got 131,716, while Peter Obi of the Labour Party managed only 28,513.
However, despite dominating Kano, Kwankwaso finished a distant fourth nationally with 1,496,687 votes. Tinubu won with 8,794,726 votes, Atiku came second with 6,984,520, and Obi followed closely with 6,101,533.
With Kwankwaso’s protégé, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, in control of Kano under the NNPP, and APC holding two of the three senatorial districts in the state, the political tension in the state compounded by the emirship tussle remains a potential flashpoint ahead of the 2027 general elections.
For now, Galadima insists Kwankwaso is charting his own course and will not serve as a political ladder for Tinubu’s second-term ambition.