Senior Special Adviser to the President on Print Media, Abdulaziz Abdulaziz has said President Bola Tinubu and the the 2023 presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Rabiu Kwankwaso have a longstanding relationship and there is nothing wrong if they are “closing ranks and reuniting under any arrangement”.
Abdulaziz emphasised that there was nothing wrong with President Tinubu’s recent meeting Kwankwaso, “Politicians talk; it’s not a sin talking across lines,” he noted.
Speaking on a televised programme monitored by Voicenews, the Presidential Aide explained that Kwankwaso and Tinubu have a longstanding relationship of more than three decades, both as senators and governors, and their recent meeting should not ignite any suspicion.
His word; “The presidency or friends of the president talking to Kwankwaso or the other way round should not be seen as anything strange or looked at with disdain or any suspicion. After all, it’s politics and people align, re-align and shape their political positions.
“There is nothing strange about Kwankwaso talking to the APC or the president or the president talking to him. After all, there is a very longstanding relationship between the two.
“President Tinubu is somebody who has relationships dating back. He has been in the game for a very long time. Both men were elected as members of the National Assembly during the botched transition of 1993.
“Also, both of them were elected governors in 1999. So, they have had this long political association that you wouldn’t see anything strange if they are now closing ranks and reuniting under any arrangement.”
Speaking on recent defections, Abdulaziz pointed out that the recent defection of two opposition governors to the ruling APC was based on the president’s relationship with them and not by coercion.
Recall that two governors, Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State and his Delta State counterpart, Sheriff Oborevwori, dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the APC. As it stands, the APC now controls 23 states, the PDP rules 10 states, whilst the Labour Party (LP), the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has one state each.
Abdulaziz described President Tinubu as a consensus builder who believes in engagement and relationships across party lines to widen his political influence and chances.
“As a person, he is a consensus-builder; he believes in talking to people. His doors are quite open. I can’t remember Nigeria having a president as approachable as President Tinubu because his network of friends and associates has remained largely intact since he’s been in office, and he maintains friends. That gives a hands-on perspective regarding what’s happening in the country.
“A lot of people who are decamping, some politicians will come out and say the Federal Government is coercing members of the opposition into the APC fold. I can tell you it’s not true because I believe that politics is like a give and take.
“But in this case, most of these people, especially governors and high-ranking politicians who are joining the APC on account of the president’s approachable politics and engaging relationship that he has (with them).”
Meanwhile, with the 2027 election approaching, Kwankwaso of the Kwankwasiyya, a cult-like following with his red-capped socio-religious group, has undoubtedly become the new bride now desperately courted by political parties — from the ruling APC to the PDP, the Labour Party and the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Kwankwaso’s last Monday meeting with President Tinubu in the Aso Villa is an indication that Mr president is seeking an alliance to trounce the ADC opposition coalition and win his re-election bid in 2027.
