Loading ...KANO, NIGERIA — The battle for the soul of Northern Nigeria ahead of the 2027 presidential election has been blown wide open. Former Kano State Governor and leader of the Kwankwasiyya Movement, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has launched a fierce rhetorical counter-offensive against the former Governor of Borno State, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff.
The confrontation follows comments by Sheriff on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where the Borno political heavyweight dismissed the electoral viability of the opposition alliance in the North.
In a sharply worded statement released early Wednesday morning, July 8, 2026, Kwankwaso rebuked Sheriff for self-appointing himself as the spokesperson for the Northern masses, declaring that the political reality on the ground completely refutes Sheriff’s dismissive predictions.
Dismantling the Northern Underestimation
The friction erupted after Sheriff claimed during his Monday television appearance that Peter Obi, the prominent opposition figure, cannot command any sizeable political support across the northern states in 2027, arguing that power must remain in the South until 2031.
Kwankwaso, the presidential standard-bearer who recently aligned structures to form a formidable national front, described Sheriff’s assessment as “divisive and poorly considered” and detached from the current realities of regional suffering.
“After a prolonged absence from public discourse, one would have expected that time away might have sharpened Senator Sheriff’s judgment. Regrettably, that does not appear to be the case,” Kwankwaso fired back. “For the record, in his first outing on the presidential ballot, Mr. Obi secured approximately 2.8 million votes in the region—a remarkable achievement that cannot be dismissed lightly.”
The Math Behind the “OK” Ticket
Kwankwaso emphasized that the newly consolidated “OK ticket”—representing the unified political force of Obi and Kwankwaso—is uniquely positioned to tap into deep grassroots discontent over the economic policies of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
| Political Core Metric | The “OK” Ticket Regional Calculations |
| Obi’s Baseline Northern Outing | Secured ~2.8 million votes across Northern territories in his first ballot appearance. |
| Kwankwaso’s Core Regional Grid | Reaped over 1.45 million votes, heavily concentrated within the North’s densest voting blocks. |
| Catalyst for Realignment | Severe national economic hardships and widespread consensus on the ruling party’s policy failures. |
| Primary Structural Engine | Total reliance on the hyper-disciplined and loyal Kwankwasiyya grassroots machinery. |
“Kano is Neither Bigoted Nor Xenophobic”
The former defense minister reserved his sharpest defense for his primary political stronghold of Kano State, directly answering Sheriff’s claims that Kano voters would outright reject a ticket featuring Obi.
Kwankwaso maintained that Kano voters have evolved far past regional and ethnic sentiments, operating strictly on ideological loyalty to the Kwankwasiyya movement.
“Let me state clearly: the good people of Kano are neither bigoted nor xenophobic,” Kwankwaso stated firmly. “They have consistently demonstrated strong trust in the Kwankwasiyya movement and will support any credible ticket presented under its banner.”
Mind Your Home State, Kwankwaso Tells Sheriff
Closing the political salvo, Kwankwaso advised Sheriff to divert his attention toward the protracted humanitarian crises and severe insecurity ravaging his home state of Borno, rather than jetting to Lagos or Abuja studios to play national political oracle.
As the opposition alliance solidifies its structures for the 2027 general elections, Kwankwaso insisted that the OK ticket remains the premier, uncompromised platform capable of resetting Nigeria on a clear path of national competence, genuine unity, and progressive transformation.
