2023: Tinubu is making a mistake to say it’s his turn– Kwankwaso

PRESIDENTIAL Candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Sunday, asked those expecting him to step down for another flag bearer to perish the thought because “for us in the NNPP and Kwankwansiya, our party is on the right track to clinch the leadership of the country.”

Speaking at a forum with the Nigerian Guild of Editors, NGE, and senior journalists in Lagos, Kwankwaso, who disclosed why he left the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the All Progressives Congress, APC; and why the alliance talks between the NNPP and Labour Party, LP, collapsed, gave two major reasons he won’t step down.

The former two-time governor of Kano State also warned Nigerians to avert a repeat of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua scenario in 2023 by scrutinising the candidates and ensuring that the best is elected.

Claiming that he is the best man for the Aso Villa job, Kwankwaso, who holds a doctorate degree in Engineering, urged older candidates to look at themselves in the mirror, tell themselves the truth, quit the presidential race and save the country avoidable agony as was witnessed when late President Yar’Adua died in 2010.

Kwankwaso also outlined how he would fight insecurity, poverty, boost the economy, turn the fortunes of the education sector around, and how he would get the funds to do so.

Asked if he would yield to pressure to step down for any of the other candidates, Kwankwaso said apart from the NNPP being the only party that is growing now, it is too late for alliances and mergers to be formed because the window for that has been closed by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

Kwankwaso said over the years he and his friends have done a lot and built goodwill across the country, which the NNPP is reaping now because within a few months of his joining the party millions of people have registered as members. Within a short time produced credible candidates across the country. Apart from the APC and PDP, we have the largest number of candidates across the country.

“NNPP is the only party growing now and the growth will continue as the 2023 polls approach. The other parties have nothing to say again. I was a founding member of the PDP, which was formed to kick the military out of power. There was no ideology behind the formation of PDP other than kicking the military out.

“After kicking out the military, we realised our differences. It was one of the reasons I lost re-election as Kano governor in 2003. So we have to think of getting a progressive party, and five of us, PDP governors, had to move and join in forming APC. We also realised that APC has issues and our expectations were dashed. We decided to form a party of like minds. However, when the INEC refused to register our party, we looked around and found NNPP. It meets our beliefs and ideology. We are happy that we left APC and PDP and joined NNPP.

“Like us, there are millions of Nigerians who are tired of the status quo. By status quo I mean APC and PDP, who through bad leadership are responsible for the insecurity, bad infrastructure, poor economy and other problems we have come to correct.”

Why I won’t step down for any candidate

Kwankwaso, who stressed that NNPP was poised to win the presidential poll, said any candidate thinking of stepping down now when the window for mergers and alliances had closed was not being fair to himself.

“The reports of my stepping down are coming from detractors who go about concocting stories to suit their mind. Anybody who thinks of stepping down at this stage is not fair to himself because the time for merger, alliances, etc, has gone. NNPP is all out to win the 2023 elections. The other parties are going down in terms of support and popularity and there is nothing any of them can do to stop this misfortune.