Rabiu Kwankwaso, the former national leader of the New Nigeria Peoples Party and an ex-governor of Kano state, recently dumped the party and joined the coalition-adopted party, the African Democratic Congress (ADC). However, three things have been identified as reasons the move could eventually favour President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 elections.
Kwankwaso’s defection came weeks after his political son and current governor of Kano state, Abba Kabir Yusuf, dumped the former minister’s camp and joined the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), a move the Kwankwasiyya Movement has described as betrayal, but the governor insisted on the need to align with the central government.
The coalition movement, which adopted the ADC as its political platform, was started by former vice president Atiku Abubakar. The former vice president has been at the forefront of the campaign to stop the second-term ambition of President Bola Tinubu and the APC at the centre.
His comment reads:
” This could strengthen the party, especially if it succeeds in building a united front with other opposition groups.”
At the same time, three reasons Kwankwaso’s defection could favour Tinubu are listed below:
Kwankwaso’s defection to the ADC risks splitting opposition votes across multiple platforms, weakening any unified challenge against Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress in the 2027 Nigerian general elections.
This is because Kwankwaso was not ready to surrender his presidential ambition. This is one of the reasons he did not join the APC when the ruling party approached him and why he did not align with Peter Obi ahead of the 2023 presidential election. Unfortunately, Atiku and Obi are now in the ADC and have shown no sign of stepping down their ambitions.
His move could derail attempts to build a broad opposition alliance, creating distrust among key figures like Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, and making consensus around a single candidate more difficult.
This is due to the fact that consensus is achievable where the bigwigs are willing to let go of their egos and support another candidate in an election. However, the case of the ADC appeared different as Kwankwaso, Atiku and Obi are not ready to bow down.
Kwankwaso’s entry could trigger internal wrangling within the ADC over control, tickets, and party direction, weakening the party’s effectiveness and making it less capable of mounting a serious challenge, an outcome that ultimately favours the APC.
This is because Atiku, Obi and Kwankwaso will continue to jostle for the ADC’s control, tickets and party direction to actualise their presidential ambition in the 2027 elections.
The electoral body made the position while speaking on the requestion of the legal representatives of a faction, Akintayo Balogun & Co.
Recall that the PDP has been facing an internal crisis since the outcome of the 2023 general election, where the party lost to President Bola Tinubu.