• Says estranged godson phoned with reasons that don’t add up
Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, former NNPP presidential candidate and Kano’s Kwankwasiyya Movement leader, says the news that Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, his son-in-law and political godson, has joined the All Progressives Congress still feels like a bad dream. In his first long interview since the defection – to BBC Hausa – Kwankwaso spoke of his shock, the unanswered questions, the governor’s realignment with ex-Governor Abdullahi Ganduje’s camp, and what the move could mean for the NNPP and Kwankwasiyya.
Excerpts from the Hausa interview, lightly edited for clarity:
What was your first reaction to Governor Yusuf’s exit?
Honestly, it hit me like a truck – not just me, but millions of Nigerians. I lie down sometimes and tell myself “this can’t be real.” The whole thing blindsided everyone. I keep asking: what went wrong? Did I offend him? Did the party? Did our members? No answer makes sense.
Some say you stage-managed the defection.
I hear that story every day. People insist there must be a back-room deal. There wasn’t. Not a handshake, not a phone call, nothing. Even I struggle to believe events have gone this far.
The governor claims he consulted stakeholders. Were you one of them?
The reasons he personally phoned to give – or sent emissaries to relay – were small in-house issues. They could have been solved over a cup of tea. You don’t hand over the mandate of NNPP members and the people of Kano because of grumbles any party in the world faces. Dialogue was on the table; he walked away from it.
Will he regret the move?
Absolutely. Time will show him, and those who followed him, what they lost. Whether he returns or not, regret is waiting for him at the gate.
