Breaking: Fresh Trouble For Tinubu As Kwankwaso Teams Up With Atiku, Obi, Others

• President Bola Tinubu's challenge in the 2027 presidential election has been widened as Rabiu Kwankwaso, former NNPP presidential candidate, teamed up with the coalition
• This is as Kwankwaso, who was a former governor of Kano, registered with the ADC, a party adopted by the coalition, which was started by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar
• Kwankwaso's defection was witnessed by Peter Obi, a former Labour Party presidential candidate, who also joined the party recently

Rabiu Kwankwaso, the former governor of Kano state and ex-presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples' Party (NNPP), has officially teamed up with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and other opposition leaders as he joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

Kwankwaso, who was a one-term Minister of Defence, registered with the ADC and received his membership card at Gidan Kwankwasiyya, Miller Road, Bompai in Kano on Monday, March 30.

Present at the event are the party's national chairman and former president of the Senate, David Mark, ex-governor of Sokoto and Rivers, Aminu Tambuwal and Rotimi Amaechi. Others are Peter Obi, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party; Senator Dino Melaye and the former national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), among others.

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The ADC was the party adopted by the coalition in a bid to sack President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general election. The movement was started by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

Earlier, Kwankwaso announced his resignation from the NNPP, citing the need for political alignment and realignment ahead of the 2027 general election.

Nigerians react as Kwankwaso joins ADC

Reactions have started trailing the defection of the NNPP national leader to the ADC. Below are some of their comments:

PragmaticDB commended Kwankwaso for the defection:

"Congratulations, Kwankwaso. The only thing that could undermine the ADC is Atiku’s insistence on becoming its presidential candidate. We’re simply waiting to see what happens after the ADC primaries. If Atiku could set aside his ambition the way Tinubu did in 2015, the ADC might stand a chance of staying united, though it would still struggle to defeat the APC."

Ibukun Ebenezer analysed the political calculation ahead of the 2027 general elections:

"He joined alongside Gawuna, the former APC government aspirant. As it stands, Gawuna will contest for the Governorship election under ADC, while Abba Gida Gida will do the same under APC. Kwankwaso will indirectly be against his supposed mentee, Abba. Interesting time ahead."

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Alaka Tunde posited that

"Kwankwaso joining the ADC might shake things locally, but the bigger picture remains unchanged. Asiwaju’s influence still holds strong, and all these moves will end up being just noise until 2031."

Kollins Batokun said the Social Democratic Party (SDP) should have been the major opposition:

"Good. Gradually, Nigeria is having an opposition greater than the PDP. A big mistake SDP made."

You can read more comments about Kwankwaso's defection on X here:

Kwankwaso visits Atiku

Legit.ng earlier reported that President Bola Tinubu's chances in the 2027 election appeared to be in with stronger opposition ahead of the next cycle of polls in the country.

This is as Rabiu Kwankwaso, the former NNPP presidential candidate, visited ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar at his Abuja residence on Saturday, March 28.

This came the day after Kwankwaso met with former Governor Rauf Aregbesola and the current national secretary of the APC.

Source: Legit.ng