2027: Why I Asked Atiku to Step Down for Peter Obi – Kwankwaso

Rabiu Kwankwaso, the vice-presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has explained why he wants former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar to withdraw his presidential ambition in favour of the party’s candidate, Peter Obi, ahead of the 2027 general election.

Kwankwaso gave the explanation during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, citing his longstanding political relationship with Atiku and the need for a new political arrangement.

Asked whether he wanted Atiku, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, to step aside, the former Kano State governor answered in the affirmative.

He disclosed that he recently used a courtesy visit by a group of Fulani people from across the country to encourage them to speak with Atiku about withdrawing from the presidential race.

Kwankwaso, however, stressed that his position was not driven by personal hostility towards Atiku, whom he said he had known and worked with for decades.

To illustrate their relationship, he traced their political association to 1993, when both men were involved in the movement led by the late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua.

According to Kwankwaso, the group supported Atiku as its preferred presidential candidate under the Social Democratic Party (SDP). When that effort failed, they also attempted to secure the party’s vice-presidential ticket under Yar’Adua’s leadership.

He recalled that their political paths remained connected during the transition to civilian rule in 1999, when Olusegun Obasanjo emerged as the presidential candidate. At the time, Kwankwaso was Kano governor-elect, while Atiku became Obasanjo’s running mate and later vice-president.

Kwankwaso said he maintained a close relationship with Atiku during that period and acknowledged the latter’s political role in subsequent elections.

He also recalled their political dealings in 2003 and claimed that nearly 90 per cent of the votes cast in Kano in the 2007 presidential election went to Atiku, despite their affiliations with different political parties.

Atiku contested the 2007 election under the Action Congress of Nigeria, while Kwankwaso was not a member of the party.

The NDC vice-presidential candidate further noted that they worked together in 2011 and both sought the All Progressives Congress presidential ticket ahead of the 2015 election, which Muhammadu Buhari eventually won.

Kwankwaso said their shared political history was the reason his appeal should not be interpreted as opposition to Atiku personally. He maintained that political ambitions and arrangements had their time, suggesting that the former vice-president should consider making way for Obi ahead of the 2027 election.