A former ally of President Muhammadu Buhari, Buba Galadima who is now a member of the New Nigerian People’s Party, NNPP has said there is no South-East presidential candidate that believes in the concept of a new Nigeria like Rabiu Kwankwaso, the presidential candidate of his party.
Galadima, who made this assertion on Monday while speaking on Arise TV, noted that Kwankwaso’s drive for a new Nigeria was a product of the past 30 years.
“There is no South East candidate that believes in a new Nigeria as we do; we want someone that can believe in Nigeria, not a tribal Nigeria. We have been working on this project for over 30 years,” he said.
Asked why Kwankwaso can’t be Peter Obi’s running mate, Galadima replied, “The arithmetic is against Peter Obi, it’s only Kwankwanso that can deliver the mission to New Nigeria. It’s God’s time for Kwankwaso to be president. We spoke about primordial sentiments.
Recall Kwankwaso himself had earlier given reasons he can not be running mate to Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, in the wake of calls for the duo to form an alliance as an alternative for Nigerians aside the two major political parties – All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The former Kano governor had expressed interest in Obi to accept to be his running mate.
“The northerner voters have made up their minds on what to do; certainly NNPP, nobody can change it,” Kwankwaso said during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.
“Unfortunately, there are many issues in the South East, and a northern voter is the worst-hit in this issue of maladministration in this country. But even under that circumstance, a northern voter also believes that he is better with one united Nigeria,” he said.
“Therefore, most of the things that are happening in the South, especially in the South-East; people are not comfortable with that and as long as you have somebody from there in any party, it will be very difficult for the northern voters to vote, and that’s the situation now,” he added.
Meanwhile, Kwankwaso has informed that the NNPP Committee has been working to meet with Obi with a view to working together to take the leadership of the country at all levels.
He said, “I believe it will happen, but I also believe that there are some challenges that we are having especially from the side of the Labour Party itself because there are so many influences.
“Some on their side have positive and even negative sides. We have a situation today where there are some people who are in other parties who are also influencing the decision of that party, which I believe is not good for the party,” he added.
Kwankwaso, who said he has been to different parts of the country, expressed concern over the situation of the country in terms of economy, security, education and infrastructure.
He said the people of the country are yearning for change, adding that it will only be fair for the two parties to come together to bring a real alternative for Nigeria.
