Former Kano State Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has declared support for zoning the presidency to southern Nigeria in the 2027 general election, while also expressing willingness to serve as running mate to Peter Obi under a proposed opposition coalition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kwankwaso made the remarks during an interview on PrimeTime on Arise Television on Monday, where he said leaders within the coalition had agreed that power should remain in the South in the interest of national balance and political stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to him, the arrangement positions Obi as the likely presidential candidate of the alliance ahead of the 2027 election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat is how it should be,\u201d Kwankwaso said when asked whether Obi would emerge as the coalition\u2019s presidential flagbearer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf the party decides that I should be the running mate of any candidate from the south under the circumstances, I will be happy to work together with him,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kwankwaso said the decision followed extensive consultations among political stakeholders who, he argued, were more concerned with competent leadership than regional considerations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat is key now is not presidency from the North or from the South,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat is key is to have quality leadership, people who are enthusiastic, determined and committed to give the country the leadership it deserves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The former Minister of Defence said many Nigerians, particularly younger voters, were increasingly focused on issues such as insecurity, economic hardship and infrastructure rather than ethnicity or religion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also praised Obi, describing him as a credible partner in efforts to reform governance in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPersonally, I cannot remember any better combination, no matter how much time you are given to find those who can beat us in terms of doing the right thing for this country,\u201d Kwankwaso stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He dismissed suggestions that tensions could arise between himself and Obi if both contested on the same ticket, arguing that political partnerships could succeed where there was mutual understanding and discipline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drawing from his experience as Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and Governor of Kano State, Kwankwaso said personal ambition and greed were often responsible for conflicts within governments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere is too much to be done for anybody to be fighting over power,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The former governor also defended the growing alliance between the Kwankwassiya movement and Obi\u2019s Obidient supporters, saying both groups were already collaborating across Nigeria and among diaspora communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to him, the coalition was gaining support from Nigerians dissatisfied with the current state of governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Commenting on the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Kwankwaso said many citizens were becoming disillusioned with conditions in the country despite the party\u2019s political dominance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe election of 2027 will be between Nigerians and the leaders,\u201d he said, citing economic difficulties, insecurity and governance challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He further argued that political leaders were underestimating the influence of young Nigerians and social media in shaping electoral outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kwankwaso maintained that the coalition remained focused on building what he described as a broad-based movement capable of providing \u201csolid and credible leadership\u201d for the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former Kano State Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has declared support for zoning the presidency to southern Nigeria in the 2027 general election, while also expressing willingness to serve as running mate to Peter Obi under a proposed opposition coalition. Kwankwaso made the remarks during an interview on PrimeTime on Arise Television on Monday, where he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":96,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,2,31,3,23],"tags":[147,177,134],"class_list":["post-95","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-elections","category-news","category-political-parties","category-politics","category-top-stories","tag-2027-elections","tag-ndc","tag-nigeria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetimesnigeria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetimesnigeria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetimesnigeria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetimesnigeria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetimesnigeria.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=95"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetimesnigeria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetimesnigeria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95\/revisions\/97"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetimesnigeria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/96"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetimesnigeria.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=95"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetimesnigeria.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=95"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetimesnigeria.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=95"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}