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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The presidential candidate of New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in the 2023 general elections, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, has said he did not reach an agreement with President Bola Tinubu or anyone over the outcome of the Supreme Court verdict on the Kano State governorship election.
Kwankwaso stated this while reacting to allegations on social media that he had reached an agreement with Tinubu before the judgement.
Recall that Supreme Court had on Friday affirmed NNPP’s Abba Kabir Yusuf as the duly elected governor of Kano State.
Speaking with BBC Hausa Service on Saturday, Kwankwaso said: “What happened at the Supreme Court is a lesson for all of us. I know that I mean well for everyone. Throughout the period, I have not done anything to anyone. And people would reap what they sow. To the best of my knowledge, I have not reached an agreement with anybody.
“All I know is that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is my contemporary. I joined politics at the same time as him in SDP. Then, he was a Senator and I was serving as the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives. In 1999, he was my colleague as the governor of Lagos State.
“We founded the APC together and we participated fully in the struggles which followed up. People should know that a lie has a short life. Despite the machinations those people staged, the judges have done what is right.
“There is no problem. They have their party, we have our own. We will work together where necessary. On the issue of joining the government, only time can tell.”
Kwankwaso noted that he would not control Yusuf, adding that he can only advise him.
“Kabir Yusuf is the governor. We can only advise. Even if he were a biological son, I can’t rule over him. I have given him pieces of advice even before the government came in. There are thousands of people like me. I can’t do it alone. When a governor or a president does well, the credit goes to him. If he does otherwise, the blame is directed at him.
“People misunderstand this. When I was a governor, I would pick suggestions kept by people even in dustbins. The same is on radio stations and newspapers. For everything has an appointed time. Those who succeed should be allowed to prove their worth.
“There were errors with the previous judgement, but the Supreme Court undid what the lower courts did. If it were in other climes, those who delivered the judgements in the lower courts would quit their jobs,” he added.