NNPP Secretary Dismisses Kwankwaso’s Kano Clout, Says Tinubu’s 2027 Votes Safe

|By Chinwendu Nwani

The National Secretary of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Ogini Olaposi, has played down the political relevance of the party’s former presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, insisting that his influence in Kano State has waned significantly.

Olaposi said Kwankwaso’s standing as a former governor no longer carries electoral weight, arguing that he cannot dent President Bola Tinubu’s expected votes from the state in the 2027 general election.

In a statement he signed on Sunday, the NNPP scribe disclosed that the party’s presidential ticket for 2027 is open, a sharp contrast to the 2023 election when Kwankwaso emerged as the sole candidate. He attributed the shift to internal disciplinary actions taken after the last presidential poll.

According to Olaposi, alleged anti-party activities by elements within the Kwankwasiyya Movement after the election triggered the expulsion of several high-ranking members, including Kwankwaso and Elder Buba Galadima, adding that the decision remains in force.

He said the party has already attracted interest from multiple presidential hopefuls ahead of 2027, including two aspirants from the NNPP diaspora, while stressing that the party is also receptive to alliances with like-minded political platforms.

Olaposi further dismissed claims of Kwankwaso’s electoral dominance in Kano, noting that several strategic figures within the Kwankwasiyya Movement have defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He maintained that President Tinubu and the APC will anchor their 2027 campaign on governance performance rather than political influence, insisting that Kwankwaso’s purported vote strength in Kano has been exaggerated.