“He can move from one platform to another, without shame ” Ganduje on Kwankwaso’s party switches
The immediate past national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has dismissed Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso as a “political bird” who drifts from one platform to another, as he assessed recent manoeuvres in Kano politics during an interview with BBC Hausa.
Kwankwaso, a former governor of Kano State and the NNPP’s 2023 presidential candidate, joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC) on March 30, citing internal crisis in his former party. Weeks later he and 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi moved to the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) after a Supreme Court judgment that recognised David Mark’s leadership of the ADC while remitting its leadership dispute to a trial court — developments that have injected fresh volatility into the run-up to the 2027 elections.
Speaking about those shifts, Ganduje said Kano Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf had anticipated the problems now confronting Kwankwaso and his followers, and that the governor’s decision to join the APC was driven by a desire to align with the centre and secure political stability for the state. “We share the political roots, having started at the PDP… When he eventually aligned with the NNPP, he went on to form a government,” Ganduje said, referring to the fluid alliances that have characterised recent Kano politics.
Asked whether Kwankwaso’s moves posed a threat to the APC, Ganduje was unequivocal. “He has become a political drifter; a political bird that can perch anywhere, moving from one platform to another. We deployed our political strategy to wrestle the control of the government from him. The governor is now ours,” he said.
Ganduje also argued that Kwankwaso’s latest home, the ADC, was an uneasy coalition of competing interests, saying internal demands for a presidential ticket would ultimately disorganise the party. “They are already in conflict with one another right now fighting each other,” he said, adding that state governors were aligning with the APC and pointing to what he described as the party’s unprecedented reach across states.
The comments underscore growing factional realignments in northern and national politics as politicians and parties position themselves ahead of 2027. Political analysts say frequent defections, legal battles over party leadership and the formation of new alliances are likely to shape candidate selection and electoral coalitions in the months to come.
Requests for comment from Kwankwaso’s camp, the ADC, NDC and NNPP were not immediately answered. More developments are expected as parties and stakeholders respond to the shifting landscape.
