Unrealistic Demands by Kwankwaso Disrupt APC Alliance Talk

Yesterday, new information surfaced about how the president’s and the All Progressives Congress’s (APC) attempts to reach a political agreement with Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, who was previously thought to be Kano’s “beautiful bride” and a potential election-shaping force, ultimately failed.

Courted for the perceived electoral value of his red-cap movement, Kwankwasiyya, the former Kano governor appears to be watching his political allure wane, leaving the leader of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) increasingly isolated and struggling to translate past dominance into present influence.

According to people familiar with the discussions, Kwankwaso and President Bola Tinubu had numerous meetings over the course of several months, particularly in Abuja.

Given the NNPP’s performance in the 2023 general election, it was initially reported that the presidency saw Kwankwaso as a strategic link into Kano and portions of the Northwest.

However, high-ranking APC sources revealed yesterday night that talks ended due to what they called excessive and unreasonable demands.

Sources claim that Kwankwaso aimed for up to 20% of the APC’s national structure, a vice presidential position, and assurances that would last until the 2031 election cycle.

Senior APC officials stated that when maneuvering ahead of the 2027 elections picked up speed, the requests immediately triggered red flags.

“Even President Bola Tinubu hasn’t explicitly requested a portion of the APC. The demand for twenty percent of the APC’s national structure was a deal-breaker. Besides, the vice-presidential position was never on the table.

“It was made clear to him that it was not vacant, and there was no basis for discussions around 2031 at this stage,” the impeccable source with knowledge of the negotiations revealed.

Additionally, the Dr. Boniface Aniebonam bloc of the NNPP disclosed yesterday that Kwankwaso’s alleged slavish intentions and domineering attitude were the reasons behind Governor Abba Yusuf’s decision to quit the party.

In response to Buba Galadima’s remarks regarding Yusuf’s defection, National Vice Chairman North-West Alhaji Sani Danmasani said in a statement that Yusuf sought “greener pastures” because Kwankwaso’s actions were intolerable.

In the run-up to the deal’s collapse, presidency strategists began to doubt Kwankwaso’s claim to total control over the state’s political apparatus, despite the fact that the former Kano governor was initially motivated by the APC’s belief that he remained essential to the ruling party’s long-term electoral calculations, particularly in the North-west.

They saw opportunities to take advantage of the growing tension between him and Yusuf as well as indications of doubt within the NNPP regarding the governor’s long-term political prospects.

Given the scope of Kwankwaso’s demands, it was not surprising that talks quickly broke down.

Senior APC sources claim that the NNPP leader’s demand for 20% of the APC’s national political structure stunned party leaders and was promptly rejected as unfeasible.

In addition to structural compromises, Kwankwaso pushed for the vice presidential position, even though it had already been filled and could not be renegotiated.

Kwankwaso has also publicly confirmed this, saying recently that he would only join or defect to another political party if he was offered either the presidential or vice presidential ticket ahead of the 2027 general election.

“He was clearly overreaching,” a top APC chief said.

According to those who spoke, Kwankwaso’s apparent emphasis on the long game was even more startling to APC negotiators. With a firm focus on 2031, Kwankwaso reportedly sought assurances for influence over the party’s succession plans in addition to immediate accommodation.

The package of demands implied to the president and APC leaders that a politician was negotiating as a nearly equal stakeholder in a party he did not found, rather than as a potential ally.

When no headway was made, Tinubu, initially open to engaging Kwankwaso as the presumed gatekeeper of Kano politics, then recalibrated his strategy.

Rather than expend political capital trying to woo an opposition leader with expansive demands, the president and APC negotiators were said to have turned their attention to consolidating ties with the Kano governor, betting that incumbency, federal leverage and direct engagement would yield better results than protracted courtship with Kwankwaso.

The pivotal moment was that. The presidency decided it made more sense to deal with the governor once it became evident that Kwankwaso no longer controlled the entire Kano political space as he claimed, particularly with disagreements between him and his former political godson, according to another source.

It was a brilliant move that seemed to have deprived Kwankwaso of the negotiating leverage that had once made him appealing. His negotiating position was weakened by his incapacity to produce a unified Kano bloc and what APC leaders called an exaggerated sense of indispensability.

The sources claim that the president and his followers increased skepticism about Yusuf’s chances of winning a second term in Kwankwaso’s NNPP by presenting the APC to him as a more reliable and stable platform.

Kwankwaso’s “Slavish” intentions drove Yusuf out of the NNPP Bloc

In the meantime, the Dr. Boniface Aniebonam-led NNPP has disclosed that Kwankwaso’s controlling demeanor and purported slavish intentions were the reason Governor Yusuf decided to quit the party.

In response to Galadima’s remarks regarding Yusuf’s defection, National Vice Chairman North-West Danmasani stated in a statement that Kwankwaso’s actions were intolerable, which led Yusuf to look for “greener pastures.”

According to the head of the NNPP, Yusuf joined the APC in order to get away from Kwankwaso’s oppressive leadership style rather than for personal gain. Yusuf was forced to leave after the party accused Kwankwaso of trying to force his will on other people.

According to the NNPP leader, Kwankwaso was the mastermind behind the betrayal, betraying Aniebonam, the party’s founder. According to the statement, Kwankwaso’s conceit and greed prevented Yusuf from resolving conflicts within the party, forcing the governor to look for other political refuge.

“Yusuf’s switch to the APC is affecting Galadima and Kwankwaso so much that the bitterness and pain are evident in their speeches,” Danmasani continued during Buba Galadima’s interview on Arise News Television.

“Galadima’s experiences traveling by road from Enugu airport to Umuawulu town in Anambra, the hometown of NNPP founder Aniebonam, are striking in the details of his expression during the Arise TV session.” In order to secure a political platform for Kwankwaso and others opposing the 2023 general election, he arrived in Anambra by two in the morning to meet Aniebonam.

“Incidentally, it was discovered that Yusuf, a major beneficiary of the perilous trip to Umuawulu, betrayed the NNPP family in order to join their adversary, former Kano state governor and APC mainstay Ganduje. Galadima and Kwankwaso, who were accused of betraying trust, were the same individuals who were given free access to the NNPP platform in order to run for office in 2023.

The individuals who betrayed Aniebonam and attempted to take over the party he founded in 2001 were the same ones. They are still working to hijack the structure of the NNPP without conscience, despite labeling Yusuf a betrayer. One starts to question why Kwankwaso and Buba Galadima are protesting and upsetting social harmony as though they are unaware of God’s different ways.He declared.

The party, therefore, stated that rather than continue to lament over Yusuf, Kwankwaso and his group should seek the face of God and ask for forgiveness from those they betrayed.

Kano Govt: We’ve Reached Understanding on Emirship Tussle

In another development, after almost two years of unresolved crisis over who was the actual Emir of Kano, despite the various legal interventions, the impasse, it learnt, may be ending soon.

Yesterday, the state government confirmed the development by announcing that a political solution had been implemented in place of the previous one and that an understanding had been reached.

With the state government announcing that it was prepared to implement a political solution to the emirship struggle, the crisis, which has persisted for almost two years, has started to ease. The state government also gave the populace assurances that it would soon find a way to settle the conflict and produce a single, legitimate Emir.

Ibrahim Waiya, Commissioner for Information and Internal Affairs, revealed that the state has started procedures to make sure that a practical solution was used to address the problem.

Since we are now united, the Kano state government has promised to settle the conflict over the Kano Emirate very soon. It is possible that some will step down from the throne on their own, or others will seek reconciliation because a mutual understanding has been reached,” he added.

Alhaji Mustapha Bakwana, Governor Yusuf’s political adviser, confirmed the matter by stating on a local radio program that settling the emirship dispute was essential to the state’s political development.

He noted that the government planned to unify the Kano Emirate under one leader, putting an end to the ongoing tussle.