By Cynthia Alo

LAGOS—Former governor of Kano State and vice-presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, Rabiu Kwankwaso, said yesterday he believed the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, would honour his pledge to serve only one four-year term if elected in 2027, revealing that both men signed a written agreement to that effect.

Kwankwaso, who disclosed this in an interview on Channels Television, said both of them signed a written agreement on this. According to him, the agreement provides that power will return to the North after a single four-year tenure of Obi.

On whether he believed Obi would honour the agreement, the former Kano governor said he had no reason to doubt the former Anambra State governor.

He said: “Oh yes, I personally believe him and I don’t think, based on what I now know about him, he will change his mind when the time comes, and we are all gentlemen, even though we have accepted to put it on paper.”

While reiterating that the agreement signed by both of them was sacrosanct, Kwankwaso also said they equally signed a separate agreement with the party on the issue.

“We have done one for the party, and we have done another one between the two of us,” he said.

Explaining the contents of the agreement, he said: “The agreement is what you said, that after four years we will work together, team together as a group, as a party, as friends, brothers and so on so that after his term, or our term, of four years, 2027 to 2031, then it comes back to the North, and that is the general agreement.”

On why he accepted the vice-presidential slot, despite previously pursuing the presidency, Kwankwaso said the current political circumstances supported a four-year southern presidency before power returns to the North.

He added: “Together we felt that the presidency should go to the South for four years; thereafter it will come back to the North.

“We believe that should be the consensus of everybody in this country, so we can move together as a family, both North and South.”

When asked if he planned to contest the presidency in 2031, Kwankwaso said the party was focused on its immediate objective while keeping future plans in view.

He said: “We have a short-term plan which we are executing now and, of course, we also have our medium- and long-term plans for the country, and that is what we are working on now.”

Recall that Peter Obi had severally declared he would serve only one term of four years if elected president in 2027.

“I want to be a one-term president because of stability. I would not stay a day, with a gun to my head, longer than four years,” Obi had said.

His declaration drew criticism from opposition political parties, which argued that the NDC presidential candidate would not keep his promise if elected president in 2027.

The vice-presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has defended himself against allegations of extremism, renewed his opposition to a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket, and expressed confidence that the NDC ticket of Peter Obi and himself will win the 2027 presidential election.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, Kwankwaso said Nigerians, particularly young people, are seeking leaders who can improve their living conditions rather than politicians focused on ethnic or religious sentiments.

“People are tired of the situation they are in now. They want something new, something that can help their lives, something that can improve the security and welfare of the people of this country,” he said.

He argued that critics of the NDC alliance are disconnected from the realities facing northern Nigeria.

“Those who are going against that ticket are not even conversant; they are not in touch with realities in northern Nigeria Today,” he said.

When asked about a proposed US bill that reportedly named him alongside others over allegations of religious persecution and communal violence, Kwankwaso dismissed the claims and said, “Let me start from the issue of assets. I have no asset anywhere outside Nigeria, so there is nothing to freeze.”

He described the allegations as politically motivated, saying, “Everybody has enemies. People decided to send my name here and there. But realities have now come out, and that issue is gone. It is no longer an issue.”

When asked whether he believed his name had been cleared, he responded: “I believe so.”

On the Muslim-Muslim ticket, Kwankwaso said he expects religion to remain an important issue in the 2027 elections, criticising President Bola Tinubu for again presenting a Muslim-Muslim ticket.

“I’m even surprised that the President again is presenting the same type of ticket,” he said.

According to him, President Tinubu has traditionally balanced political appointments and should do the same with his presidential ticket.

“I believe he still has time from now to the time of substitution to have a balanced ticket,” he said.

Although he acknowledged that there is nothing inherently wrong with a Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christian ticket, he argued that Nigeria’s diversity makes religious balance preferable.

Reflecting on his own choice of running mate in the 2023 election, he said, “When I was looking for somebody to run with me, I got an archbishop so that we can go together and everybody will have a sense of belonging.”

Kwankwaso cited the 1993 SDP presidential ticket of MKO Abiola and Babagana Kingibe as an example where religion did not dominate political discourse, noting that “at that time, people were talking of competence, popularity and many other positive things.”

Addressing concerns that ongoing legal challenges involving the NDC could affect its participation in the 2027 elections, Kwankwaso said he was not worried.
He expressed confidence that the courts would not prevent the party from contesting.

“I don’t think any respected judge will be in a hurry to say NDC should not participate in the 2027 election,” he said.

The vice presidential candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Congress, NDC, for the 2027 general elections, Engr Rabiu Kwankwaso, has said that supporters of the party are people looking for what to eat.

Appearing on Channels Television on Monday, the former Kano State governor said the NDC supporters are people who are bent on ensuring that there is change in the leadership of the country.

Kwankwaso and Peter Obi are the flag-bearers of the NDC will contest against the likes of Bola Tinubu, the incumbent president and presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress, APC and Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress.

Earlier this year, Kwankwaso agreed to become the running mate to Peter Obi and both leaders have since merged the support groups, the Obidient Movement and the Kwankwasiyya to wrestle power from the APC government.

Speaking on Channels, he said, “Our supporters are not just merely people who are looking for money or who are looking for textile or food items on the day of election.

“These are people who are determined not only to vote but to make sure that the votes are being protected.”