The 2023 presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso, has refuted claims of a rotational presidency agreement involving former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the Labour Party’s Peter Obi.
In an interview with the BBC Hausa Service on Monday, December 30, monitored in Abuja, Kwankwaso stated that he had not engaged in any recent discussions or negotiations with the two politicians.
He emphasized his decision to remain politically neutral until the end of the year, allowing governments at various levels to focus on governance without unnecessary distractions.
Kwankwaso also criticized the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), accusing it of employing manipulative strategies to secure votes in the North.
“For me to accept any arrangement, we have to go back to history. I understand PDP in totality,” he said. “I know they plan to procure a party or be beating around the bush in other parties, bring us together, make northerners vote for them.
“But what we are asking them is what have they done to the North? These are the kinds of things that will come into play. But in my mind, we have witnessed the worst of humiliation from these people.” Kwankwaso expressed disappointment over his past experiences with the PDP, citing how the party alienated him and other key figures.
“We loved this party, we wanted to rejig it so that we could prosper, but they made us leave by force. Kwankwaso left, Peter Obi left, Wike left and others too—there is no estimate of those who left. Yet, they are the same people coming now to the fore expressing interest in being made president.
“This is appalling, maybe they are remorseful, or they are thinking they want to seek forgiveness or something related to that but we have been humiliated by those people,” he added. He dismissed claims of a purported arrangement involving himself, Atiku, and Obi, describing it as fabricated.
“I heard from a source that PDP brought in scholars—about 45 of them—and claimed there was a consensus that Atiku will rule for four years, I will rule for another four years, and Peter Obi will rule for eight years. This is a complete lie and has no basis in reality,” Kwankwaso stated.
He criticized elder statesmen allegedly spreading such misinformation, expressing disappointment that individuals in their 70s and 80s would participate in such actions.
“Such deceit is part of what led me and others to leave the PDP. These actions have destabilized the party,” Kwankwaso concluded.
