Former Kano State Governor and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has rubbished any possible merger of major opposition political parties by declaring for president.
The next presidential election will be held in 2027 and there have been talks that NNPP will join the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party and other fringe parties to oust the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) from power.
Atiku of the PDP had expressed his readiness for alliance talk to enable parties merge, ditto Peter Obi of the Labour Party.
In the last presidential election, the total votes scored by the three leading opposition parties of PDP, Labour Party and NNPP were over 14m as to the winning candidate, Tinubu’s 8,794,726.
That elicited debates if a united opposition parties could have defeated the APC despite a split in the PDP which caused five of its governors to work for Tinubu.
The bitter experience from the 2023 election with the attendance hardship since Tinubu took over has reinforced calls for a united opposition parties in order to wrest power from the APC.
Although it’s early days yet, talks have been progressing until Kwankwaso’s declaration on Saturday when he paid a condolence visit to the family of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, following the demise of their matriarch, Hajiya Dada.
In a video in circulation, Kwankwaso declared that the PDP is no longer a viable political force.
“I wish to remind you that the PDP is already dead because we were in the party.
“Since they have gone out of line, we decided to check out,” Kwankwaso said, referring to his defection from the PDP to NNPP in 2022.
The former Kano governor urged Nigerians, particularly women and youth, not to be swayed by temporary incentives like money or food items during future elections.
The NNPP has also been divided with a group led by members of its founding fathers, Agbo Major, expelling Kwankwaso and his camp.
The founding fathers are also in control of the party’s Board of Trustee.
The party is also being ripped apart in court as a result of the leadership crisis.