Nigeria’s main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says it is planning to reach out to former Kano State Governor, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, to persuade him to return to the party that “nurtured his political career and brought him to where he is today.”

The PDP acting National Chairman, Ambassador Umar Iliya Damagun, revealed this in an interview with the BBC while responding to Kwankwaso’s recent statement that the PDP is “dead” and cannot achieve any significant success in the future.

He emphasised that the PDP was ready to welcome back all former members who left the party, including Senator Kwankwaso.

“People are entitled to their opinions, but I want to remind him of the past. When they left the PDP in 2015, if the party didn’t die back then, during a time they thought they had weakened it, I don’t see why anyone would claim it is dead now.

“Let’s not forget that the PDP remains the only party capable of winning elections if you exclude the ruling APC,” Damagun said.

He also noted that Kwankwaso’s statement was unjust to himself, because despite his criticisms, Kwankwaso was able to win some political victories using the PDP platform in the past.

The acting chairman further boasted that the PDP, even after 26 years, remained strong under the same name and has governors and senators across all regions of Nigeria. He argued that even if four other parties were to merge, they still would not match the PDP’s strength.

Addressing Kwankwaso’s claims that he was marginalised in the PDP, making him to dismiss any plans to work with the party in the 2027 elections, Damagun admitted that some of Kwankwaso’s grievances were valid.

He explained that during Kwankwaso’s initial efforts to leave the PDP, Damagun himself, then the party’s deputy national chairman for the North, tried his best to reconcile the issues but was unsuccessful.

“That said, there is no party better than the PDP for Kwankwaso. The party nurtured his political career and brought him to where he is today. We still hope he will return to work with us to rebuild our party and confront this oppressive government,” Damagun added.

The PDP chairman stated that, God willing, the party will soon reach out to Kwankwaso despite knowing he was angry, adding that his aspirations might not be achievable in his current party.

“The PDP has always been a party that welcomes back any of its members who left in anger. Whenever they return, we give them opportunities just like everyone else,” Damagun concluded.

The Kano State chapter of the All Progressives Congress has described as laughable Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso’s claim that he would significantly reduce the party’s votes in Kano during the 2027 elections.

Kwankwaso, a former governor of Kano State, is the leader of the Kwankwasiyya Movement and the ruling New Nigeria People’s Party in Kano.

In a statement on Thursday, the Kano APC Chairman, Abdullahi Abbas, called on Kwankwaso to stop “daydreaming” and instead focus on reclaiming his membership in the NNPP.

Abbas characterised Kwankwaso as a “political refugee,” accusing him of clinging to Kano State, Governor Abba Yusuf, “like a leech” in a futile bid to regain relevance.

“Our teeming supporters in the APC have no cause to worry about Kwankwaso, who has been booted out of the NNPP due to his cluelessness and self-centredness. We expect Kwankwaso to keep wondering why he has become a wanderer in the political terrain,” Abbas said.

“He ran away from the APC because he couldn’t fit into our progressive ideals. His over-bloated ego and domineering posture forced him to abandon the PDP, and he has now become a political refugee because the NNPP refused to accommodate him.”

Abbas further assured APC supporters that the party would not tolerate a repeat of what he described as “vote manipulation and allocation” during the 2023 elections, which he claimed created a false impression of the NNPP’s strength in Kano.

“The APC is already waiting in the wings to not only reclaim Kano State but also save the people from the undue influence of Kwankwaso, who rules from his Miller Road castle,” he added.

The statement was in reaction to Kwankwaso’s remarks during a recent meeting at his residence in Kano, where he claimed to have received former councillors and senior special advisers from the administration of Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje.

Reflecting on the 2023 elections, Kwankwaso said, “Despite being a new political platform and starting our campaign late, we achieved this remarkable feat.”

He noted that the NNPP’s efforts sidelined the Peoples Democratic Party, which struggled to secure just 15,000 votes in Kano.

“Now, it’s our turn to diminish APC’s influence. We will work tirelessly to ensure their votes are reduced to less than 15,000 in Kano come 2027,” Kwankwaso declared.

A former spokesman and ex-Director-General of the Peter Obi Presidential Campaign Organisation, Dr. Doyin Okupe, has stated that the South, and not the North, should produce the president in 2027.

Speaking in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos, Okupe argued that fairness demands that the South completes its eight-year term, similar to the North before the emergence of President Bola Tinubu.

Okupe acknowledged that although Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the PDP presidential candidate in 2023, is eminently qualified to contest in 2027, geopolitical considerations make it inappropriate for him to assume the presidency at that time.

“Atiku failed in 2023 not because he was not a good person but because people felt that a northern Muslim could not succeed another northern Muslim after eight years,” Okupe said.

“If Atiku contests in 2027, he has the right. He is eminently qualified and one of the best we have, but geopolitics is an issue.

“The conditionality still persists: a southerner would have just completed four years and needs another four-year term.

“It’s not in the constitution, but we agree that when a northerner does his eight years, a southerner will do the same.

“So, the North cannot now terminate the tenure of the South in 2027. It is not going to work.”

Okupe also highlighted that Mr. Peter Obi, the 2023 Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, could vie for the presidency in 2027 as a southerner.

However, he expressed doubt that Obi could unseat Tinubu, noting the incumbent president’s progress in governing the country.

“Obi can contest. Obi is a young man, very dynamic and very ambitious. But geopolitics is important in a country that has not achieved horizontal and vertical unity.

“The person who is occupying the place right now, Tinubu, is also a southerner, who is doing well.

“We can see what this gentleman (Tinubu) is doing. I wish Obi luck, but it is going to be an uphill task,” Okupe said.

Regarding potential alliances of politicians and parties to unseat Tinubu in 2027, Okupe said such coalitions would likely fail due to an inability to make necessary concessions

“I have been in this game for over 40 years. I came into politics in 1978. I have been in several talks and discussions and represented my party and movement in several alliances.

“We have not attained the maturity to be rational, reasonable, and ready to make the necessary concessions for group interest. We are not there yet.

“Even in private businesses, 90 percent of partnerships crumble within the first three years.

“I wish those attempting alliances luck, but it is going to end the same way it always does—futility,” Okupe said.

Reflecting on the alliance that brought ex-President Buhari to power in 2015, Okupe acknowledged Tinubu’s pivotal role, stating that Tinubu made significant concessions to ensure its success.

“The man who spearheaded that alliance had grown beyond naivety and selfishness.

“You set up an alliance, cook food, and invite others to eat. Tinubu conceded everything to make it work,” he said.

Okupe expressed doubt that opposition leaders like Atiku, Peter Obi, and Sen. Rabiu Kwankwaso would demonstrate similar maturity or willingness to concede to one another in 2027.

Speaking about Tinubu’s performance, Okupe commended the president’s clarity of purpose and direction.

“Nigeria is lucky that Tinubu won the 2023 presidential election. He has purpose, zeal, and clarity of mind about where he wants to lead the country.

“It took Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore 31 years to bring Singapore from nowhere to a first-world country.

“It is either we want this country to move forward and be upgraded, or we want to keep playing politics and destroying the lives of our children,” Okupe concluded.