The Kwankwasiyya Movement has issued a robust defense of its national leader, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, amid public debate over his reported political alliance with former Labor Party presidential candidate Peter Obi under the Nigeria Democratic Congress, accusing critics particularly from northern political circles of applying a double standard by portraying Kwankwaso negatively while praising similar political moves by others.
In a statement issued by the movement, it argued that what was troubling certain quarters was not the prospect of political cooperation between the two leaders but the enormous national political potential such a partnership represented, describing the possible alliance as the first realistic opportunity in recent political history for a broad-based political understanding capable of bridging the longstanding regional divide in opposition politics.
The movement said Kwankwaso commanded a formidable grassroots structure in Kano and the North-West while Obi enjoyed widespread support among urban voters, young Nigerians, and large sections of the South, and that their combination would introduce a completely new political equation transcending ethnicity, religion, and regional sentiment.
It rejected what it described as attempts to reduce a potentially historic political realignment into personality attacks and elite propaganda, insisting that Kwankwaso’s political relevance was rooted in years of public service and the trust of millions of Nigerians rather than manufactured by media narratives or access to federal patronage.
The movement stressed that Nigeria’s current economic, security, and governance challenges demanded issue-based politics, national inclusion, and a credible leadership alternative, and urged political stakeholders and commentators to engage the developing political situation with fairness, maturity, and genuine national interest.
