Abdullahi Ganduje, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has said Rabiu Kwankwaso, presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in the 2023 election, will soon return to the ruling party.
Ganduje, who served as governor of Kano state for two terms, made the statement while hosting members of the Tinubu Support Group (TSG) at the APC national secretariat in Abuja on Tuesday, April 15.
Declaring the NNPP a fading force in Nigerian politics, Ganduje said the party was no longer a threat to the APC. He described the NNPP as a dead party, adding that preparations for its metaphorical burial were already underway.
“The NNPP is dead. And it will soon be buried; very, very soon. I’m looking at where we will bury the body. The coffin has already been constructed,” Ganduje said. “What remains now is to dig the grave. And already they are digging the grave very, very soon.”
He dismissed ongoing coalition efforts among opposition leaders aimed at unseating President Bola Tinubu, expressing confidence that such moves would not succeed. Ganduje also stated that Kwankwaso, who currently leads the NNPP, would be welcomed back into the APC fold should he decide to return.
“The so-called NNPP national leader, he too, if he says after losing everyone, he wants to come back to us, we will welcome him, because he is coming back home,” he said.
Ganduje encouraged all APC support groups to remain steadfast in their loyalty and continue to mobilize support for the Tinubu administration. He pledged that the party would recognize and include these groups in future activities.
As part of preparations for the upcoming November 8 governorship election in Anambra, the APC chairman inaugurated a six-man reconciliation committee for the state’s three senatorial districts.
Earlier on Friday, April 11, Ganduje reiterated his stance on the proposed opposition alliance ahead of the 2027 general election, stating it would fail. He made the remarks during a visit by the APC national working committee to the residence of former President Muhammadu Buhari in Kaduna.