Again, Kwankwaso dismisses reports on withdrawal, merger ahead of 2023 election

The New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, on Sunday dismissed rumours that he was under pressure to withdraw from the 2023 presidential race in favor of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential flag bearer, Atiku Abubakar.

The former Kano State governor, who spoke at the Editors’ Forum hosted by the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) in Lagos, described the rumour as the handiwork of mischief-makers.

The NNPP had twice dismissed insinuations on the planned merger with the PDP ahead of next year’s election.

He said: “I won’t step down for anybody. Why did I leave PDP then? Why did they allow me to go? We have passed that stage. We have submitted the names of our candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and NNPP is all out to win the 2023 elections. I am happy to say that we left PDP and All Progressives Congress (APC) for good and we are happy with where we are at NNPP.

READ ALSO: Lack of accountability fueling insecurity in Nigeria – Kwankwaso

“Today, we are happy that we left the two parties and we have since realised that there are millions of Nigerians who are not satisfied with the status quo that PDP and APC represent. The 16 years of PDP and eight years of APC have left Nigerians disappointed. We are practical politicians, not social-media based, and have visited most of our people. We are for people on the ground.”

Kwankwaso stressed that NNPP was open to debate and consultation on the call for the restructuring of the country.

“We will be very happy to follow our process to get it done.

“But the fact remains that from my own experience in the last two decades; the problem has not mainly been that of the constitution but the operators, which we believe by 2023 we will have the right people to handle the Constitution,” he added.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now