FORMER Kano State Governor and national leader of the Kwankwasiyya movement, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has declared that he remains willing to forgive Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf and reconcile with him despite their political differences, insisting that his affection for his former protégé remains intact.
News Point Nigeria reports that the relation between the two political allies deteriorated after Yusuf defected from the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), under whose platform he won the 2023 Kano governorship election, to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The move attracted criticism from members of the Kwankwasiyya movement, many of whom viewed the defection as a departure from the political structure that supported his emergence.
Speaking in an interview contained in a video posted by BBC Hausa on Monday, Kwankwaso, who has also left the NNPP and joined the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), said there was still room for reconciliation.
According to him, Yusuf was the one who chose to leave their political fold and would be welcomed back if he decided to return.
“I still love Abba and I didn’t reject him, he is the one that left. So not just Abba, if anyone who left comes back, I won’t be unforgiving. Look at Ganduje, in the many years we worked together, we fell out several times and got back together. That is how politics works,” he said.
Kwankwaso argued that Yusuf’s electoral success was largely made possible by the strength and influence of the Kwankwasiyya movement.
“We picked Abba to contest under the NNPP and we won, but he left to join the people we defeated. Some say he did so because he feared losing his position, but he knows there was no way we would have been defeated in Kano. If that were the case, we would have lost when he contested under our party,” he stated.
The former governor further explained that the decision to field Yusuf as the party’s candidate in the 2023 election was a deliberate strategy aimed at demonstrating the political strength of the Kwankwasiyya movement.
“We did not choose him because he was the most senior or the most educated. We chose him because we wanted to test the strength and calibre of the Kwankwasiyya movement at that time,” he said.
Kwankwaso also used the opportunity to emphasise the importance of tolerance, understanding and forgiveness in political leadership.
According to him, leaders must be willing to accommodate differing views and recognise that individuals often approach issues from different backgrounds and perspectives.
“As a leader, you need to have an open heart. You cannot force people to think the way you do because we all come from different backgrounds and have different perspectives. Without forgiveness, we would not have come this far,” he added.
The remarks signal a conciliatory tone from the former governor amid the lingering political rift, while suggesting that the possibility of renewed cooperation between the two politicians remains open despite their current differences.