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By 247ureports.com
Former Kano State Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, the vice-presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has said his party is not worried about the African Democratic Congress (ADC) ahead of the 2027 general election, questioning whether the ADC can win significant support in southern Nigeria while claiming the NDC is making headway in the North. “We are not worried about ADC because I am not sure they can win 25% anywhere in the South and as for the North, we are making tremendous progress,” he said. 247ureports.com could not locate the original venue of the remarks, so the quote is reported as attributed.
The 25 per cent figure echoes a rule in the Constitution, which requires a presidential winner to secure at least one quarter of the votes cast in two-thirds of the states and the Federal Capital Territory, in addition to the highest number of votes. The remark was Kwankwaso’s own political assessment, not a measure of the ADC’s strength, and actual voter support will only become clearer as campaigns, alliances and realignments unfold.
The comment is aimed at a party Kwankwaso knows well. He and Peter Obi left the ADC in May for the NDC, which then picked Obi as its presidential candidate and Kwankwaso as running mate at a special convention in Abuja. Kwankwaso said at the time that court cases and internal crises in the ADC were behind his exit, and that a building that is cracking has to be left before it collapses. The ADC is now led into the 2027 race by Atiku Abubakar, with Rotimi Amaechi as his running mate, which puts two opposition tickets in direct competition for the same anti-Tinubu vote.
Kwankwaso has long played down the split. In earlier remarks he told Atiku to wait for the election and see, and dismissed concern that opposition votes would divide in Kano as impatience. The NDC has also zoned the presidency to the South for a single term, a decision Kwankwaso backed. In August he coordinated and submitted the party’s list of candidates for the 19 northern states and the FCT.
The ruling party has been dismissive of both challengers. APC national chairman Nentawe Yilwatda and Progressive Governors’ Forum chairman Hope Uzodimma have said neither the ADC nor the NDC is a threat, pointing to the number of governors and legislators in the APC fold. The ADC had not responded to Kwankwaso’s latest comments at the time of this report.
