The African Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council (ADC-PCC) has accused former Kano State Governor, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, of advancing President Bola Tinubu’s political interests by urging former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar to step aside for Peter Obi ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
The council said Kwankwaso’s position could deepen divisions among opposition parties and weaken efforts to challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the next general election.
Kola Ologbondiyan, Director of Media and Publicity of the ADC-PCC, made the allegations in a statement on Friday.
The ADC spokesman reacted to Kwankwaso’s interview on Channels Television, where the former governor discussed the opposition’s chances and the need for a possible political arrangement ahead of 2027.
Ologbondiyan questioned why Kwankwaso was calling on opposition figures to make concessions instead of directing his criticism at Tinubu’s administration.
He said the ADC campaign council believed Nigerians were concerned about the rising cost of living, hunger, poverty and insecurity.
“Rather than campaigning against President Tinubu, whose administration Nigerians are eagerly working to vote out, Kwankwaso is fixated on Atiku Abubakar, the ADC candidate, whom millions of Nigerians believe can restore economic stability and make life affordable again,” he said.
The spokesman argued that Kwankwaso’s intervention raised questions about his intentions and the role he wanted to play in the opposition’s political calculations.
He alleged that the former governor was more interested in positioning himself for the 2031 presidential election than in helping opposition parties develop a common strategy for 2027.
The council also referred to Kwankwaso’s reported description of the office of the vice-president as a “spare tyre”. Ologbondiyan suggested that the remark, alongside his call for Atiku to step aside for Obi, warranted questions about the former governor’s political priorities.
However, the ADC-PCC maintained that no single politician should be treated as indispensable to the opposition’s prospects in Kano State, where Kwankwaso has maintained a strong political base.
Ologbondiyan cited the 2003 and 2007 presidential elections, arguing that former President Muhammadu Buhari recorded victories in Kano without Kwankwaso’s support.
He said the former governor’s political influence should not be taken to mean that other opposition figures could not seek support in the state.
“What Kwankwaso is doing amounts to advancing President Tinubu’s interests. It is a familiar APC strategy to use willing collaborators within the opposition to create confusion, sow division, and weaken the collective efforts to bring about political change,” he alleged.
He further accused Kwankwaso of contributing to divisions within the opposition at a time when parties seeking to challenge the APC would need to negotiate their differences and agree on a workable political strategy.
The campaign council said Nigerians should not be distracted by what it described as manoeuvres designed to weaken opposition groups before the 2027 polls.
It urged political leaders to focus on the issues affecting citizens rather than engaging in disputes over which opposition figure should lead the contest.
Ologbondiyan also questioned Kwankwaso’s political history, pointing to his movement across several political parties.
He referred to the former governor’s journey through the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the All Progressives Congress (APC), back to the PDP, and later the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and other opposition platforms.
The ADC-PCC said these movements raised questions about the consistency of Kwankwaso’s political alliances.
It also challenged his claim to broad national influence, citing his fourth-place finish in the 2023 presidential election.
“Kwankwaso must come to terms with the realities of the national political landscape. His influence should not be confused with the capacity to win a presidential election. If his political relevance were as extensive as he suggests, why did he finish fourth in the last presidential election?” he queried.
The spokesman contrasted Kwankwaso’s political base in Kano with Atiku’s longstanding relationships across different parts of the country.
He argued that the former vice-president’s connections across the six geopolitical zones would be important to the ADC’s preparations for the next election.
“Atiku Abubakar is a cosmopolitan, detribalised, and nationally recognised political figure who has built relationships across the North, South, East, and West over more than three decades,” he said.
Ologbondiyan also questioned whether Kwankwaso’s support for Obi was driven by a genuine desire to unite opposition parties.
He alleged that the former governor could be pursuing personal political interests ahead of future negotiations and electoral arrangements.
“There is a growing perception that Kwankwaso’s support for Peter Obi is driven more by his personal ambition than by a genuine commitment to the opposition’s collective objective of defeating the APC,” he said..
The spokesman urged Nigerians and the media to focus on the record of the incumbent administration and the issues confronting the country.
He maintained that opposition leaders should prioritise economic hardship, insecurity and the cost of living in their political engagements.
“Our campaign, however, invites Kwankwaso and his allies to reconsider their position and support the formidable candidacy of Atiku Abubakar,” Ologbondiyan said.
“Atiku remains our preferred pathway to defeating President Tinubu and ending the hunger, poverty, and insecurity that the APC administration has foisted on our nation.”
