By Kazeem Waris
The African Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council (ADC-PCC) has declared that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar can win Kano State in the 2027 presidential election without the support of Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, accusing the former Kano governor of undermining opposition unity and advancing President Bola Tinubu’s re-election interests.
The council’s position followed Kwankwaso’s call for Atiku to step aside for former Anambra State governor Peter Obi, a move the campaign council described as self-serving and capable of weakening the opposition’s efforts to defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027.
In a press statement by its Director of Media and Publicity, Kola Ologbondiyan, the ADC-PCC accused Kwankwaso of directing his political attacks at opposition leaders instead of challenging the Tinubu administration over the country’s economic difficulties, rising cost of living, poverty and insecurity.
“Rather than campaigning against President Tinubu, whose administration Nigerians are eagerly working to vote out, Kwankwaso is fixated on Atiku Abubakar, the ADC candidate, whom millions of Nigerians believe can restore economic stability and make life affordable again,” Ologbondiyan said.
He alleged that Kwankwaso’s intervention in the debate over the opposition’s presidential candidacy was playing into the hands of the APC by creating divisions among political forces seeking to unseat Tinubu.
“What Kwankwaso is doing amounts to advancing President Tinubu’s interests. It is a familiar APC strategy to use willing collaborators within the opposition to create confusion, sow division and weaken the collective efforts to bring about political change,” he said.
Atiku does not need Kwankwaso to win Kano — ADC
Rejecting suggestions that Atiku would require Kwankwaso’s backing to secure Kano State, the ADC-PCC spokesman cited former President Muhammadu Buhari’s presidential victories in the state in 2003 and 2007 as evidence that electoral success in Kano was not exclusively dependent on Kwankwaso’s political machinery.
Ologbondiyan argued that Atiku’s political networks and relationships across Nigeria gave him a national reach that, according to the council, distinguished him from Kwankwaso, whose political influence he described as largely concentrated in Kano.
“Atiku Abubakar is a cosmopolitan, detribalised and nationally recognised political figure who has built relationships across the North, South, East and West over more than three decades.
“Kwankwaso, on the other hand, has concentrated much of his political strength within Kano State. His ability to translate that regional influence into broad national electoral success remains a major question,” he said.
The council also questioned Kwankwaso’s national electoral appeal, pointing to his fourth-place finish in the 2023 presidential election.
“If his political relevance were as extensive as he suggests, why did he finish fourth in the last presidential election?” Ologbondiyan queried.
ADC alleges 2031 ambition behind Kwankwaso’s position
The ADC-PCC further alleged that Kwankwaso’s position on Obi’s potential candidacy was driven by personal political calculations ahead of the 2031 presidential election rather than a genuine commitment to defeating the APC in 2027.
The council, however, did not provide evidence in the statement to substantiate the allegation.
It urged Kwankwaso and other opposition figures to put aside individual ambitions and rally behind Atiku, warning that continued disagreements over the presidential ticket could weaken their collective challenge to Tinubu.
According to Ologbondiyan, the priority for opposition leaders should be building a common front around the 2027 election rather than engaging in public exchanges over who should lead the coalition.
“The task before opposition leaders is not to undermine one another for personal political advantage but to unite around the urgent national mission of rescuing Nigeria,” he said.
The ADC-PCC maintained that Atiku could compete effectively in Kano and across the country without Kwankwaso’s endorsement, insisting that opposition unity, rather than pressure on individual aspirants to withdraw, should be the focus of political negotiations ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
