A chieftain of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Buba Galadima, has confirmed the meeting between the party’s presidential candidate, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwanso, and President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in Paris, France.
Recall that the former Governor of Kano State met behind closed-door with Tinubu for four hours and reminisced on their relationship dating back to the National Assembly in 1992.
The meeting, which started at 12.30 pm and ended at 4.45 pm on Monday, was to discuss the potential involvement of Kwankwaso in the incoming administration as Tinubu plans to form a national unity government.
Kwankwaso, in principle, was said to have agreed to join Tinubu’s government subject to consultations with the stakeholders on both sides which will lead to a possible political alliance between the two politicians.
In an interview on Arise News on Thursday, Galadima said such a meeting between politicians is no news because it had happened a lot of times in Nigeria’s political history.
The NNPP chieftain added that the idea of a unity government is not something new in Nigerian politics, stressing that such an idea happened in the First Republic between the NCNC and the NPC,
He said, “Everything in Nigeria is news. Ordinarily, a meeting between two political leaders should not attract that kind of frenzy it got from the citizenry.
“But you know Senator Kwankwaso contested against the president-elect in the 2023 election in which the NNPP came forth. However, after the contest, we’re one party that didn’t go to court even though we were the only people who have credible reasons to go to court. That in itself speaks volumes and can be interpreted in several ways.
“The actual situation is that meetings of such nature and even the idea of unity government are not something new in Nigerian politics. It happened in the First Republic between the NCNC and the NPC – that’s Azikiwe’s and Ahmadu Bello’s parties.
“Later, there was also a unity government that was formed between the NPC and the NNDP led by Chief Samuel Akintola of the Western Region. Of course, it’s also on record that during the government of Shagari, the NPP led by Nnamdi Azikiwe had an agreement with the government of the NPN.
“So, it’s history that’s repeating itself. This is why there is the need to educate the young people about the history of their country.”
