By Muhammad Mamman
Negotiations between the All Progressives Congress (APC) and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) national leader Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso have spectacularly broken down after intense discussions over potential political cooperation faltered this week, senior APC sources have revealed. 
According to insiders familiar with the closed-door talks, which have been ongoing for several months in Abuja, Mr Kwankwaso’s camp pressed for sweeping control of key APC party structures nationwide and the allocation of the vice-presidential candidacy as conditions for any merger or alliance ahead of the 2027 general election. 
Senior party figures described the demands as “excessive and unrealistic”, noting that calls for control of up to 20 per cent of the APC’s national apparatus and guarantees extending into the party’s future leadership planning were met with firm resistance. “Even President Bola Tinubu has not asked for any percentage share of the APC,” one APC insider told THISDAY. “The vice-presidential position was never on the table, and it was made clear to him that there was no basis for discussions around 2031 at this stage.” 
The fallout comes amid broader political manoeuvring as parties position themselves for the 2027 polls. APC strategists had initially courted Mr Kwankwaso — long seen as an influential northern political figure — in the hope that his support could bolster the ruling party’s reach in Kano State and the North-West. 
However, tensions within Mr Kwankwaso’s own ranks, including a reported fallout with Kano Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf that precipitated the governor’s defection to the APC, appear to have weakened his bargaining position. APC sources say this erosion of political leverage made negotiations increasingly untenable. 
In response, the APC has shifted focus to consolidating support through other party leaders in the region, sidelining the idea of accommodating Mr Kwankwaso’s extensive structural demands. 
