Kwankwaso at Chatham House: Why NNPP, LP alliance failed

The presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Rabiu Kwankwaso, was at Chatham House in London on Wednesday where he spoke on why the proposed alliance between his party and the Labour Party (LP) failed to happen.

He said the much-talked-about alliance did not work because the LP did not see the reason to work with him.

Last year, both the NNPP and the LP hinted at a possible alliance for the coming general election.

Many believed the alliance between Kwankwaso, who has a large followership known as ‘Kwankwasiyya’ in the northern part of the country and Obi who commands a large following of young people, especially in the South, would be a game changer in the coming election often dominated by two parties.

“Let me say that I was one of those initially wanting to work (together) with the Labour Party,” he said. “But unfortunately at that time, the Labour Party was under very serious media hype and therefore, they could not see (the) reason.”

When asked if he would be willing to withdraw his ambition to support the LP’s candidate, Mr Kwankwaso said it was not an option as he believed he is more qualified than all other candidates contesting in the election.

“What I told them is what I will tell you. If anybody wants Kwankwaso to withdraw, just bring criteria and select the best. Anytime I have a better candidate, I am ready to talk to him,” he said.

He boasted of having over 30 years of experience in the civil service and claimed that his party is the one growing in Nigeria, describing the LP’s media buzz as a bubble.

“I want to say that our party NNPP is the only growing party in Nigeria today. We have seen the maximum of any party, especially the Labour Party,” he said.

“To us, (Labour Party) it’s like Andrew Liver Salt that just do prrrrr (fizzled out) and now it’s just coming down. That’s the reality of it.”

He insisted that the NNPP is successful in locking down votes and support in the northern part of the country and is currently working and gaining more support from the south.

“For us, the difference between North and South is that North knows us more than the southern part of the country.”

Other leading candidates in the 25 February election, namely the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Tinubu, LP’s Peter Obi as well as the INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, have spoken about the coming elections at the Chatham House.

The London-based think tank said on Monday that the PDP Candidate, Atiku Abubakar had not responded to the invitation to speak.