Kwankwaso declines invitation to address Arewa group, says summit already compromised

Presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso has declined the invitation to address the Arewa Joint Committee.

In a letter he personally wrote to the committee, the former Kano State governor said he believed the committee had been compromised, with reports of using the meeting to endorse a presidential candidate surfacing.

Kwankwaso also said his present campaign activities make it impossible for him to squeeze out time to attend.

He, however, urged the group not to polarise the North by announcing their support for any candidate.

“Noting that the interaction is intended to get a feel of the candidates’ plan for the North, we wish to inform you that our campaign has lined up a number of activities that have coincided with the date that you have selected for us. Moreso, our technical team is still making the final touches on our blueprint as such we will be unable to present to you the final policy proposals that will guide our candidate’s presidency when, eventually, he is elected the President of Nigeria.

“However, immediately the Blueprint is presented to the public by our candidate, we shall make copies available to your groups.

“It is however imperative to draw your attention to the fact that no one is more conversant with the challenges facing the North than HE Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. Such challenges of insecurity, collapse of education, massive infrastructure deficits, collapse of healthcare services, mechanization of agriculture and animal husbandry, youth unemployment, challenges of drug abuse and other truant behaviours are all comprehensively addressed in our policy proposals. We wish to emphasize to you that our candidate will govern our country fairly and justly and will ensure that no region is discriminated against and all regions will be treated fairly.

“Added to the above, we have credible information in our possession that shows that some people have been compromised and these people have concluded plans to turn the event into an endorsement platform for a particular candidate.

“We believe that it is very wrong for any group to clandestinely plan to endorse any candidate in the name of the North, especially when we have more than one candidate from our region. And our candidate enjoys more acceptability amongst the Northern masses and across the country than any other candidate. It is common knowledge that Nigerians especially Northerners will come out en mass to vote for him because of the trust they reposed in him, because of his track record, his competence, his empathy, educational qualification and his wealth of experience.

“Do not forget that our candidate has 17-year experience in the civil service, he was the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representative, he was a Senator of the Federal Republic, he was Governor of Kano State for 8 years, he was Special Envoy to Somalia and Darfur, he was Minister of Defence, he was member of Constitutional Conference, NDDC representing Northwest etc. No one, among all the candidates, has the combination of experiences at the executive, legislative, diplomatic, civil service as well as security levels like Sen Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.

“We are therefore advising you not to do anything that will ridicule the legacies of Sir Ahmadu Bello and other famous Northern Leaders like of Sir Tafawa Balewa, Malam Aminu Kano, Sir Kashim Ibrahim, and JS Tarka etc. by attempting to endorse an unpopular candidate at the expense of a more competent, more experienced and more credible one.

“We note that the earlier date was even postponed and a new date was fixed to coincide with the date of the rally of one of the presidential candidate in Kaduna. This further gives credence to the information in our possession that the event is being financed by that candidate.

“It is important to further draw your attention that our candidate was part and parcel of the formation of both the PDP and the APC. And there is no gainsaying that both parties have derailed from the values and principles upon which their founding fathers have established them. There is no gainsaying that both parties are wholly responsible for the precarious situation that our country found itself.

“It is the failure of these parties together with our utmost conviction that a new and better Nigeria is possible that pushed us into joining the New Nigeria Peoples Party. We believe that we will win the 2023 General Elections, God-willing.

“Finally, we wish to advise the organisers of this interaction to avoid endorsing any candidate in the name of the North as such an action will only result in further polarizing than uniting the North,” Kwankwaso said.