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ABUJA: A new political coalition seeking to reshape the electoral dynamics of Northern Nigeria has declared its support for a proposed Peter Obi-Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso presidential ticket, unveiling what it described as an expansive grassroots mobilisation cutting across Kano State and the wider North.
The declaration came from the Obi-Kwankwaso Inter-Community Alliance Network (OKICAN), which announced that it had united diverse ethnic nationalities resident in Kano behind the proposed joint ticket, alongside the governorship ambition of Comrade Abdulsalam Gwarzo and other candidates of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).
The group’s National Leader, Hon. Tableth Onuoha, disclosed in a statement issued on Wednesday, describing Kano as the strategic launch pad for what he called an unprecedented political coalition of resident ethnic communities across Northern Nigeria.
According to him, OKICAN has already commenced the organisation of non-indigenous communities across Kano’s 44 local government areas into a coordinated voting bloc, while simultaneously extending its operational structures to all 19 northern states ahead of the next general election.
Onuoha, a former elected councillor in Kano State and former presidential appointee, argued that Kano’s large population of non-indigenous residents constitutes a formidable electoral force capable of influencing the outcome of future elections.
He maintained that resident communities comprising Igbo, Yoruba, Edo, Delta, Ijaw, Idoma, Igala, Tiv, Nupe, Ibibio, Middle Belt groups and other southern ethnic nationalities have resolved to support the Obi-Kwankwaso alliance in pursuit of what he described as a “New Nigeria.”
The OKICAN leader disclosed that the organisation has mapped out extensive mobilisation across Kano’s metropolitan, industrial and rural councils, targeting all 484 electoral wards with coordinated voter education, PVC verification and election-day turnout operations.
He further revealed that the network is inaugurating executive structures across Northern Nigeria to coordinate market associations, ethnic unions and resident community organisations into what it termed a unified national campaign machinery.
Onuoha also said the alliance would engage host community leaders, market unions and security agencies to encourage peaceful participation in the electoral process and ensure eligible residents exercise their civic rights without intimidation.
He called on leaders of resident communities, ethnic associations and traders’ unions across Northern Nigeria to align with OKICAN as the network expands its political structures across the region.
The development signals another move by political interest groups to consolidate support ahead of the 2027 general election, with alliances and grassroots mobilisation expected to intensify as parties and stakeholders position themselves for the contest.