Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, NNPP, Presidential candidate
By Ayo Kehinde
The bane of sentiments in decision making in Nigeria was the main reason the merger talks between the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP and the Labout party, LP, failed.
Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, presidential candidate of the NNPP made this disclosure on Sunday in Lagos when he was the guest at the Nigerian Guild of Editors forum.
According to him, the merger talks which took place before all political parties held their conventions between May and June 2022, would have saved Nigeria and the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC, from thinking of a second ballot in the 2023 presidential polls
He said, “Our part drew up some criterion for President or Vice-President. We stated age, health, qualification and political experience. At the end of the day, the other side, (Obi and LP) did not want to go for it. They said the sentiments was strong in the southeast that a president must come from there. I thought we had passed that level of thinking. I do not think a zone, region should be the main reason for picking a presidential or a Vice-Presidential candidate.
“After all, the Constitution says you must win 24 states, which is two-thirds of the country to become a president. If I had considered such sentiment considering that there are 19 states in the North, would that make me president even if I won all the states from the North.?”
Kwankwaso who said he was in the 2023 race to win also cleared the air on a related development that he may step down for the presidential candidate of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,
“Anybody thinking I am stepping down must be mischievous. We have our names already approved by INEC to contest. NNPP is all out to win the 2023 general elections. No serious person should now think of anyone of us stepping down at this stage. The talk is coming from distractors who like to engage in wishful thinking.”
Speaking on other issues, he said an NNPP administration would entertain suggestions about restructuring only after the challenge of insecurity in the country had been solved, stating “insecurity affects everything and it must be solved for Nigeria to make progress. Restructuring cannot take anybody anywhere if you do not have a true leader. However, we would be open to suggestions from Nigerians after we are sworn into office and have tackled insecurity.”
