Buba Galadima, a chieftain of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), has dismissed the possibility of Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso teaming up with President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 elections.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, Galadima accused the Tinubu administration of undermining Kwankwaso and the NNPP in Kano by backing the deposed Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero, despite his removal by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf.
“How can a Kwankwaso be a friend of the APC with what they are doing to us in Kano? Appointing two emirs in one town? There is a Federal Government emir and a state emir. Who has the responsibility to appoint emirs and pay their salaries? They have their own emir, protected by not less than 40 police vehicles, while insecurity ravages communities in Kano. Are they not ashamed?” he queried.
Galadima further alleged that the Federal Government was using security agencies to destabilise Kano for political advantage, insisting that no emir has ever determined the outcome of a presidential election in Nigeria.
“Let anybody come out and say Kwankwaso has agreed to work for Tinubu. I ought to know if that were true. Kwankwaso is the strongest political iroko in Nigeria today; he dared the APC and defeated them at their own game in Kano,” he declared.
The NNPP chieftain boasted that his party will play a kingmaking role in 2027. “We are the people who will determine who will be the President of Nigeria in 2027,” he said.
Kano remains a political goldmine. In the 2023 presidential election, Kwankwaso dominated the state with 997,279 votes winning 38 of 44 local government areas while Tinubu polled 517,341. Despite that strong showing, Kwankwaso finished fourth nationally with 1,496,687 votes as Tinubu emerged winner with 8.79 million votes.
With Kwankwaso’s protégé, Abba Kabir Yusuf, now governor, and Kano’s reputation as Nigeria’s largest voting bloc, the battle for the ancient city’s political soul is already shaping the 2027 race.
