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The New Nigeria Peoples Party presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, on Wednesday, gave insight into why the much-talked-about merger with Labour Party and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, didn’t materialise.
Kwankwaso opened up on the issue while speaking at the Chatham House in London on Wednesday with its excerpt also shared on his Twitter handle.
The proposed merger had excited many Nigerians and political observers with many positing that it would create an opening to the North-West and further place Obi in a prime position to challenge his counterparts in the ruling All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu; and the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, during next month election.
But sharing more details on why the proposed merger failed, Kwankwaso, who is a former Kano State governor, said the union didn’t work out due to “media hype” being enjoyed by LP at that time.
“On Labour Party, I was initially interested in working with them. But at that time, they were at peak of the media hype and we couldn’t reach a compromise. Our party (NNPP) is a national party, and we’re commanding the support of the masses.”
“If you have a party which is based on ethnicity and religion, that is the difference between the Labour party and our party, which is a national party, New Nigeria Peoples Party,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kwanwaso also urged the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), to bequeath a legacy of a free election.
”My 30 years in elections have taught me that free and fair elections require the contributions of different stakeholders, especially the president, if the president wants a fair election, it will happen.
“I want to appeal to the Nigerian president to leave a legacy of free elections, as a serial victim of electoral fraud, and as the first beneficiary of free and fair elections in Nigeria,” he added. (Punch)
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