The Kano State Public Relations Officer of the All Progressives Congress, Ahmed Aruwa, has dismissed remarks by the National Leader of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, that he was ready to return to the APC under certain conditions.
Aruwa told Arewa PUNCH that Kwankwaso’s claims were misleading and unacceptable, insisting that the APC neither sought nor welcomed his return.He added that the proper way to join a political party was through formal procedures, not by issuing public demands.
“He disregarded the fact that joining a party has proper channels and procedures. If Kwankwaso wants to return, he knows how to formally convey that, not through public conditions,” Aruwa said.
The APC spokesman also faulted Kwankwaso’s claim of being among the pioneers of the APC in Kano.
“That is not true. It was former governor Malam Ibrahim Shekarau who actually led the formation of APC in Kano. Kwankwaso can not rewrite history,” he maintained. Aruwa further argued that the APC would comfortably win the 2027 elections without Kwankwaso’s influence, just as it did in 2023.
“Even in 2023, it was APC that won the election, not the NNPP. We are confident that we will win again in 2027 without him,” he said.
He also alleged that Kwankwaso had previously joined the APC only under conditions.
“It was given to him under conditions that he would align with the APC. We have solid facts, and we will expose them at the appropriate time,” Aruwa declared.
Reacting to speculations that Kwankwaso was demanding the APC governorship ticket in return for his comeback, Aruwa dismissed such demands as unrealistic.
“The conditions we are hearing, that our governorship ticket should be handed over to him or his candidate, are totally unacceptable. The APC already has strong aspirants — Senator Barau Jibrin, Dr Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna and AA Zaura, among others. There is no vacancy for Kwankwaso’s conditions,” he added.
But in a counter-reaction, Kwankwaso’s long-time ally, Buba Galadima, said the former governor had no plan to join the APC, stressing that his comments had been misinterpreted.
“Nobody will tell Kwankwaso politics. I believe there is a merger, but we are not in a hurry to merge with any party,” Galadima told Arewa PUNCH.According to him, Kwankwaso was only responding to agitations from some of his NNPP members who were pushing to defect to the APC.
When asked what conditions Kwankwaso might consider if he eventually chose to return, Galadima declined, saying, “I won’t say anything about it because it is not time for that yet.”
The NNPP chieftain also challenged the APC’s claim that it won the 2023 elections, describing it as false.
He argued that the outcome of recent by-elections had shown that the NNPP still held firm control in Kano.
“The APC claimed it won 50,000 votes from Bagwai and Shanono in 2023, but in the recent by-election, they got only 5,000 votes. That tells you who truly has the people’s support,” Galadima said.