Support Kwankwaso in 2027 if you want to be relevant -  NNPP tells Atiku

The New Nigeria People's Party (NNPP) has asked Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to close ranks with Rabiu Kwankwaso and support him in 2027 if he wants to remain politically relevant.

The NNPP says Atiku's merger proposition will only be considered if he supports Kwankwaso to become Nigeria's president in 2027.

This is coming after Atiku, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) called on major opposition parties to form a coalition to wrest power from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027.

While receiving a delegation from the national executive committee of the Inter-Party Advisory Council on Tuesday, November 14, 2023, Atiku said Nigeria needs a strong opposition party to stop the country from sliding into a one-party state.

In a statement by Paul Ibe, his media adviser, Atiku was quoted as saying, "We have all seen how the APC is increasingly turning Nigeria into a dictatorship of one party. If we don't come together to challenge what the ruling party is trying to create, our democracy will suffer for it, and the consequences of it will affect the generations yet unborn."

However, the NNPP has described Atiku's merger proposition as medicine after death.

Reacting to the proposition, Yakubu Shendam, the National Publicity Secretary of the NNPP said the party would only consider Atiku's proposition if he supports Kwankwaso to become Nigeria's president in 2027.

"This is like medicine after death. If there is any future collaboration, it should not be as a result of emotions. We are going all along because we have a gladiator who has the capacity to take over Nigeria.

"We believe that there is a need to canvass for support from people to win the election, from all sides. However, we believe that single-handedly Kwankwaso can deliver Nigeria in 2027.

"But that doesn't mean that we are not looking for players like Atiku to join our party. If there is going to be a merger, it should be with the NNPP, because Atiku is now retiring, so, he should support Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso," Shendam said.

The NNPP said it won't join forces with people who are under emotions because the party is comfortable with Kwankwaso as its national leader.

"We are calling on Atiku as an elder brother to close ranks with Kwankwaso if he wants to be relevant in 2027," the party said.

Meanwhile, the ruling party has blasted Atiku over his concerns about Nigeria slipping into a one-party state.

Describing his fears as "baseless and irrational," the APC in a statement by National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Felix Morka, said Atiku has a distorted vision due to his party's repeated defeats at the polls.

He, however, urged the former Vice President to concentrate on "repairing his damaged political psyche" to revive his party and leave the APC out of "their combined predicament."