We will return to APC if …..- Kwankwaso

The New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) presidential candidate in the 2023 elections,  Rabiu Kwankwaso, has said his party is open to joining  the All Progressives Congress (APC), but only if assured of what he described as “strong promises.”

Kwankwaso made the remarks while hosting  a prominent politician in the state, Buhari Bakwana, along with APC supporters from the 44 local government areas of Kano State, at his residence on Miller Road in Kano.

The former Kano State governor reminded the delegation that he and his allies were among the main architects of the APC’s formation in 2013, stressing that they endured political victimisation in the process.

“Nobody in the country will tell me the burden we took in creating APC. We were the ones who led the creation of the party, and we were the first set of seven governors to declare support for it. ICPC, EFCC, and the police were all used against me then, just to stop our plans,” he said.

He insisted that any conversation about returning to the APC must outline clear benefits for the NNPP.

“If you are asking us to join APC, you must tell us what NNPP will gain. We have gubernatorial candidates in all the states and full structures nationwide. What will you offer them if we join?” he asked.

Reflecting on his past experiences with both major parties, Kwankwaso accused the APC and PDP of reneging on earlier agreements.

“Eight years of APC under the immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari gave us nothing, not even appreciation. In PDP, we asked for just a zonal party chairman, but they refused. We left peacefully and today we are strong and have integrity,” he recalled.

Despite this, Kwankwaso said the NNPP remained open to fresh negotiations, but only on firm terms.

“We are ready to join APC under strong conditions and promises. We will not allow anyone to use us and later dump us,” he declared.