The NDC vice-presidential candidate says national balance and political change shaped his 2027 decision while questioning the influence of former Kano leaders

Former Kano State Governor and Nigeria Democratic Congress vice-presidential candidate Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso on Sunday, August 16, 2026, defended his decision to run alongside Peter Obi in the 2027 presidential election, describing the alliance as a national-interest arrangement shaped by equity, regional balance and the need for political change.

Also read: Kwankwaso Condemns Response to Obi, El-Rufai Cases

Speaking during the News Agency of Nigeria Personality Interview Series in Abuja, Kwankwaso also delivered a sharp assessment of Kano’s political landscape, claiming that former governors Ibrahim Shekarau and Abdullahi Ganduje, alongside incumbent Governor Abba Yusuf, had lost significant political influence in the state. (Vanguard News)

Kwankwaso said his experience of working with Obi since the 2023 election had changed his understanding of the former Anambra State governor and convinced him that they could govern together.

“People learn every day, and that is why experience is very important. In 2023, we attempted to work together and at that particular point, I knew little about Peter Obi,” he said.

“But over these last four years, I was able to learn a lot and realised that Peter is somebody that I could work together with.”

The former governor said consultations with members of the Kwankwasiyya Movement, supporters of the New Nigeria Peoples Party and the Obidient Movement also influenced the decision.

According to Kwankwaso, the groups considered a joint ticket capable of bringing together support from the North and South while offering an alternative to the established political order.

The NDC had earlier zoned its 2027 presidential ticket to the South for a single four-year term, with the party’s arrangement providing for the presidency to return to the North in 2031. (Channels Television)

Kwankwaso has previously confirmed that he and Obi signed a written agreement concerning the one-term arrangement. (Punch Newspapers)

He said the agreement was important because it addressed concerns among his supporters about regional balance and demonstrated that the alliance was based on a broader political understanding rather than an individual pursuit of office.

“I have never been the vice president. I think it is a step forward despite all the things you counted,” Kwankwaso said when asked whether accepting the number two position represented a political setback.

He argued that public office should ultimately be regarded as an opportunity to serve, regardless of its ranking.

“To me, being in government is to serve. I don’t have to be president. I don’t have to even be vice president. These are things that are in the hands of Almighty Allah.”

Kwankwaso linked his decision to what he described as Nigeria’s worsening security situation, declining agricultural productivity, poor infrastructure and economic hardship.

He said farmers, particularly in Northern Nigeria, were facing increasingly difficult conditions, while deteriorating infrastructure was limiting economic opportunities across much of the country.

Against that backdrop, he said the country required the kind of political change Nigerians sought in 2015, arguing that the need for such change had become even more pressing.

Kwankwaso expressed strong confidence in the Obi-Kwankwaso ticket, saying it offered a combination of competence, credibility, regional balance and empathy for Nigerians facing hardship.

“Nobody, no ticket can beat our own in terms of credibility, in terms of capacity and of course, in terms of love for the country,” he said.

Peter Obi has also publicly promised that a future administration would treat Kwankwaso as a genuine governing partner rather than a ceremonial deputy. Obi said during the NDC’s special convention in May that his administration would not make the vice-president a “spare tyre”.

Kwankwaso said his own experience in government had taught him the importance of giving deputies meaningful responsibilities.

He said he therefore had confidence that an Obi administration would allow him to contribute effectively to governance if the ticket wins the 2027 election.

The former Kano governor’s comments also returned attention to his long-running political battles in Kano.

Kwankwaso accused Ganduje, his former deputy and eventual successor as governor, of damaging his own political standing by breaking away from the political structure they had built together.

“If you can even see the issue of Ganduje, who we came together and supported, and became governor free of charge. The day when he started fighting was the beginning of his problem,” he said.

He similarly criticised Yusuf, who emerged as Kano governor with Kwankwaso’s backing in 2023, for allegedly distancing himself from the political network that helped secure his emergence.

Kwankwaso said members of his political movement had worked extensively to support Yusuf, including during the 2019 governorship contest, when Yusuf initially won before the result was overturned through litigation.

The former governor said the same political structure returned in 2023 and helped Yusuf secure victory, but claimed that the relationship subsequently deteriorated.

Kwankwaso also included Shekarau in his assessment of Kano’s changing political dynamics, saying the former governor no longer commanded the influence he once enjoyed.

His comments reflect the increasingly competitive nature of Kano politics ahead of 2027, with rival political structures seeking to consolidate support in one of Nigeria’s most electorally significant states.

Kwankwaso also recalled a conversation with President Bola Tinubu in which he said the President encouraged him to reconcile with Ganduje.

He responded, according to his account, by pointing to former political associates of Tinubu who had once occupied prominent positions but later disappeared from the President’s political circle, including former Lagos State Deputy Governor Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele and former Lagos Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.

The former Kano governor said such experiences demonstrated how quickly political relationships could change.

“It’s not very peculiar to Kano, but I think the Kano experience is special out of the general lots,” he said.

Kwankwaso’s latest remarks come as the opposition prepares for a fiercely contested 2027 presidential race.

The Obi-Kwankwaso alliance has emerged as one of the most prominent attempts to combine southern and northern opposition support, although the political and electoral strength of the arrangement will ultimately depend on its ability to translate national visibility into a durable grassroots organisation.

For Kwankwaso, however, the central argument remains that the alliance is bigger than personal ambition.

Also read: Kwankwaso Meets Dickson as NDC Prepares for 2027 Polls

He said the decision was ultimately about putting national interest ahead of the pursuit of the highest office and creating what he considers a credible route towards democratic change.