Rabiu Kwankwaso, the candidate for president of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), has said that his party has the North “locked” before the presidential election on February 25.
Kwankwaso stated this on Friday during a live appearance on Channels Television’s special election program The 2023 Verdict.
When asked if he believes he can win the election, he replied, “Of course! As far as the NNPP is concerned, we have sealed off northern Nigeria.
“In fact, even today, when I had a call from Channels [Television], I was there – the youth wing of CAN in northern Nigeria, all of them came together and endorsed Rabiu Kwankwaso, which was very good for them, for northern Nigeria, and by extension Nigeria itself.
“And so many other groups have done it. We don’t want to go to the market and start shouting. But I can tell you, many people would be shocked.”
The former Kano governor also commented on a series of independent pre-election polls that predicted Labour Party candidate Peter Obi would win.
According to polls, Kwankwaso and his counterparts from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, will finish second and third, respectively.
“The only opportunity they had was for us to come together. Now, we know what is happening. The first one they released from his side – from Peter Obi’s side – they were giving me six percent in the North-West,” he said.
“Even a madman knows that I’m over and above six percent or even 60 percent. They have done it; we have seen the in-house figures of PDP and APC, and they dare not bring it out.
“I always enjoy people who would want to underrate me. They have done that in 1999. Nobody was giving me a chance in Kano. Within a few months, the party came, I went in to the primary in PDP, I cleared it 100 percent, so also the general election.”
