Politics
2027: LP welcomes Kwankwaso’s offer to be Obi’s running mate
The Labour Party, on Sunday, welcomed the offer by the New Nigeria People’s Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, to be running mate to LP’s Peter Obi in the 2027 presidential election.
Kwankwaso, in a recent viral post, indicated his willingness to serve as running mate the former Labour Party presidential flag bearer barely two years after talks between both parties went south.
The PUNCH reported that the LP and the NNPP had considered a merger ahead of the 2023 general elections, but the inability of either Obi or Kwankwaso to concede the leadership collapsed the heightened move.
The former governor of Kano State, who spoke in Hausa, expressed his readiness via a circulated video on his official account provided ‘certain conditions are met.’
Kwankwaso, who acknowledged his rising political profile stated: “I’m bigger than Peter Obi politically; I’m his elder brother, I’m a PhD holder, I performed better than him when I was the governor of my state. I’ve no problem with deputising for Peter Obi, but only if certain conditions are met.”
He further expressed the possibility of engaging in meaningful discussions with Obi, noting: “We are willing to engage in discussions, provided that trust is established.”
In the last elections, Peter Obi of the Labour Party emerged third position, securing approximately 6,101,533 votes, while Kwankwaso garnered 1,496,687 votes to emerge a distant fourth position.
It should be recalled that Kwankwaso has been vocal in his criticism of the Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government, faulting the government’s economic policies which has plunged Nigerians into hardship.
Reacting in an exclusive interview, the National Secretary of LP, Umar Farouk, told The PUNCH that the renewed move by Kwankwaso was a welcome development.
He also appealed to the former Kano governor not to kill the merger talk again with his insinuation of being a better politician and holding a higher education degree.
He said, “As a political party, we stand for good governance and we have equally given all our candidates, both former and serving ones, the opportunity to choose how to associate with people of like-minds who share the philosophy and ideology of the Labour Party.
“We are happy Kwankwaso has alighted from the high horse he was riding and willing to offer himself to Obi as deputy having seen he garnered more than six million votes at the 2023 election. With his so-called popularity in the North, Kwankwaso could only amass less than two million votes.
“Again, he should stop this talk of being a bigger politician and PhD holder. What did he even do as a minister of defence? This is why we advise politicians to always consider tne dynamics of politics to gauge the temperament of the electorate at a particular time.
“Of course, we know what played out in 2023 will be different from 2027. It will be in the interest of Nigerians if Obi and Kwankwaso are willing to come together and wrest power from the APC government. But again, we know the sitting government will not go to sleep and allow the renewed move to work.”
‘Tinubu will emerge victorious’
Meanwhile, despite criticisms of President Bola Tinubu’s reform policies by the opposition, a legislative Aide to the Deputy President of the Senate,Alhaji Ado Garba (Tati), however expressed optimism that he re-clinch the Presidential seat with a landslide victory in 2027.
According to Tati, while exchanging vrews with newsmen in Kano on Sunday, he is confident that the people of Kano would massively vote for President Tinubu and the APC in 2027.
“It is because of the goodwill of the Deputy President of the Senate,Barau Jibrin, which the people of the state have been enjoying.”
Such goodwil, he explained,include Senator Barau’s women and youths empowerment programmes, scholarship schemes, desilting of dams, provision of Federal and feeder Roads and irrigation schemes in the Kano North Senatorial Distric, which he represents in the National Assembly.
Other initiatives, he said, include the distribution of 60 trucks to farmers free, establishment of a Transport Service, with over 1000 buses and facilitating siting of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) campus in Kano North Senatorial Zone.
“All these programmes have impacted positively on the lives of the people of Kano North in particular,and the people of Kano State in general.”
Similarly,Tati stated that,Senator Barau’s populist programmes have been attracting more membership for the APC in the state, with the Deputy President of the Senate receiving thousands of NNPP supporters into the APC fold.
So far, he said Barau had received thousands of NNPP supporters, who defected to the APC “notwithstanding the fact that Kano State Government is an NNPP controlled state, and we are still counting.”
“Following Senator Barau’s initiatives and development programmes coupled with President Tinubu’s realistic and patriotic reform policies will induce the people of the state to vote for President Tinubu en masse in 2024,”Tati added.
Politics
Obi Urges Nigerian Graduates to Seek Opportunities Overseas if Needed, Vows to Fix Nigeria for Their Return
Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate in Nigeria’s 2023 election, has encouraged Nigerian students to seek better opportunities abroad if local conditions don’t meet their needs.
Obi shared this advice during his visit to Anambra State, where he made donations to Peter University in Achina/Onneh and the College of Nursing Sciences in Adazi-Nnukwu. Addressing nursing students, he reaffirmed his commitment to supporting institutions that nurture skills, professionalism, and character.
Obi advised students that, if career opportunities are limited locally, they should feel free to explore options abroad.
“If things aren’t working here, go where they will work for you,” he said, expressing optimism that, with efforts to improve the country, Nigerians working abroad would eventually return.
Speaking at Peter University, Obi urged students to dedicate themselves to their studies, highlighting education as a transformative force essential for national development.
Emphasizing that investment in education is an investment in the future, he encouraged them to aim for excellence, assuring that a stronger Nigeria would await them.
Governor Alex Otti of Abia State at the weekend played host to the former presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabiu Kwankwaso, at his Nvosi country home in Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area(LGA).
Speaker of the House of Assembly Emmanuel Emeruwa, some aides of the governor, and members of the Kwankwasiyya Movement were present.
Although Kwankwaso said he was in the state to condole with Otti on the passing of Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, the first governor of old Abia State, rumours of a possible political alliance between him and Otti, the only Labour Party(LP) governor in the country, spread.
Onu was buried in Uburu, his hometown in Ohaozara LGA of Ebonyi State on Friday.
Kwankwaso’s visit coincided with a reception held by the governor for 15 Abia indigenes who recently graduated from the Nigeria Police Academy in Kano.
Shortly after he departed the state, political analysts said they were sure that the visit was partly informed by efforts of the Peter Obi-led LP faction to align with other opposition parties ahead of 2027.
‘’Don’t forget that 2027 is near. Do you think the two men would meet like they did now with talking about the next presidential election? That is impossible,’’ one of them told The Nation.
Another said Kwankwaso and Otti were ‘’very much aware that the only way to oust President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the All Progress Congress (APC) from the centre is a formidable alliance.
‘’They know that now is the best time to start talking about how to defeat those in Aso Rock. And that, I believe is the core reason for the visit.”
Last month’s local government poll in the state produced a stunning result with candidates loyal to Otti winning nearly all the chairmanship positions on the platform of the Zenith Labour Party(ZLP)
The governor backed the winners because of court cases on the authentic leadership of the leadership of the LP.
One faction of the party is led by Julius Abure while the other supported by Obi and Otti is headed by Nenadi Usman, a former Finance minister.
Political analysts argued that if Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), Obi, and Kwankwaso fail to put their political differences behind and field an acceptable presidential candidate in 2027, they might end up not making a significant impact.
Otti had while welcoming Kwankwaso recalled how he offered him a ‘’platform in May 2022 to run ’’ as a governorship candidate.
He thanked Kwankwaso for his guidance and patriotism.
His words: “Thank you for your guidance, for your patriotism, for everything that you have done for this country.
“I want to thank you for encouraging me in 2022 not to lose faith, though we were in different parties, and it appeared as if everything was going to be lost.
“That call that you made about the 20th of May 2022, for also making your platform available for me to run if I had wanted to use the platform, the rest is now history.”
Kwankwaso, a former Kano State governor, congratulated Otti on his emergence as governor. He also lauded his achievements in the state
“For the little time I have been here, I have had the opportunity of talking to a few people who confirmed to me that you are doing very well. We have seen your project everywhere” he said.
The governor and his visitor urged the new Police officers to work hard, contribute to the security of the country, and be good ambassadors of the state.
“The challenge is for you to now work very hard, knowing fully well that in this society, the son of a nobody can be the father of somebody,” said Otti.
“If people like us who grew up here without any hope at that time can be here, there is no reason why you can’t get here. But I am challenging you to be the best you can be.
“Always do things right and do the right things. You can always get to where you are headed. Cutting corners does not take you too far, “ the governor added.
Kwankwaso charged the new police officers to be professional in the discharge of their duties.
“Let me take this opportunity, based on my experience, to advise you to first and foremost fear God.
“Two, you need to be professionals. Now you are fresh, just coming out of the prestigious institute.stay there as professionals,” he said.
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