2023: l can’t be Peter Obi’s running mate – Kwankwaso

From David Kuvie Gombe

The Presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Rabiu Kwankwaso, has said that he cannot be the Vice Presidential candidate of the Labour Party’s Presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

The former Kano State governor said the party has options in the South to pick a good vice presidential candidate and one of them is Peter Obi.

Kwankwaso stated that the best option for the South-East is for the zone to partner with his NNPP.

“This is a golden opportunity, if they lose it, it will be a disaster,” Kwankwaso stated, while fielding questions from newsmen in Gombe, on Saturday.

He was in Gombe to inaugurate the state office of NNPP.

He boasted that the NNPP has the structure, organisation and population across the country to contest and win elections.

He said if elected president in 2023, his vision would be to create opportunities for the youth of Nigeria to get employed, achieved their dreams and be empowered educationally and economically.

He stated that the people of South-East are good in business, but novice in politics.

The former Minister of Defence said he cannot accept to be running mate to Peter Obi of Labour Party or any party.

He however revealed that NNPP had been in talks with the Labour Party for possible merger.

“From the discussion with Labour Party, the main issue was who becomes the president if the parties merge,” he said.

“At the end of the day, some of our representatives thought that there should be a criteria in terms of age, qualification, offices held, performance and so on.

“Of course the other side wouldn’t want that. Most of the people from there believe that presidency has to go there (South-East).

“If now I decide to be vice presidential candidate to anybody in this country; NNPP will collapse, because the party is based on what we have built in the last 30 years.

“I served for 17 years as a civil servant; we are talking of 47 years of very serious hard work that is what is rarely holding NNPP now”

The national leader of the NNPP said he was not against zoning but it must be done based on strategy calculation and equation.

He stated that the zone had lost out on the presidential and vice presidential candidates of both All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) but had a chance with the NNPP.

He stated that those saying “even if my friend (Peter Obi) wants to accept vice presidential candidate, some people in the South East will not accept, that is not strategic.”

He said Bola Tinubu was strategic to have supported the APC in 2015 and “today he is the presidential candidate of the APC.”