Kwankwaso: I won’t step down for Atiku in 2023 election

• Kwankwaso promised to re-negotiate the nation’s debt
• He lamented that APC, and PDP 24 years responsible for insecurity, woes
• Kwankwaso insists on restructuring, pledges to employ two million police, military

Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, the presidential candidate for the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), has denied rumors that he might withdraw from the race to make way for Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the general election of 2023.

In order to advance the nation, Kwankwaso, who was a guest at the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) event yesterday in Lagos, pledged to renegotiate the massive debt of the nation. He attributed Nigeria’s problems to the All Progressives Congress (APC), which has been in power since the Fourth Republic’s founding in 1999, and the main opposition PDP.

If elected president the following year, the former governor of Kano State pledged to restructure the nation, joining the growing call for such structural reform.

NGE, however, maintained its counsel to lawmakers to run their campaigns on ideas rather than individuals. When asked why he left the party, Kwankwaso responded, “Some people are suggesting that I’m standing down for Atiku.

The issues are as follows. The issue with that party is that so many attendees think they are extremely affluent. People are allowed to support any political party in a democracy.

“You cannot sit there and start dictating that one I like, he is going to be the presidential candidate, or that one I don’t like him.

“Now, people are concocting the story that I am going to step down for them or that I am going to withdraw for them. Why did they allow me to go? What happened at that time or was it still an issue at the party?”

Kwankwaso said his ideology and experience were different from those of his opponent, stressing that his long political experience has taught him how to manage public resources, and given him an advantage over other contestants.

READ ALSO: Tinubu to win Lagos, Obi to win Rivers, Kwankwaso to win Kano – Moghalu gives prediction

Speaking on the recently privatized Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, the former governor said, said, “Of course, we are happy that it’s now a law to make sure that the NNPC is moved forward and we are very committed to involving the private sector in this country. We will support the bill and do whatever it takes to make sure that the oil and gas industry is better for the interest of each and every one of us.”

Kwankwaso asserted that if elected, his administration would be receptive to public desires, particularly when it came to reviewing the constitution.

“Now, on the issue of the constitution, as I said earlier, we are open to discussing each and every day to listen to you and if Nigerians require a new constitution, we will be very happy to follow our process to get it done,” he stated.

Kwankwaso added, “But the fact remains that from my own experience in the last two decades; the problem has not mainly been that of the constitution, but the operators, which we believe by 2023 we will have the right people to handle the constitution.”

Meanwhile, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, on Sunday, received Rabiu Kwankwaso, the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), in Port Harcourt, the State capital.

The former Kano State governor is in Rivers State to inaugurate the Mgbutanwo Internal Roads in the Emohua Local Government Area on Monday (today).

Governor Wike had in the last few months, invited several politicians from opposition parties to commission projects executed by his administration.

Recall that a former national chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC Adams Oshiomhole was in the State last Wednesday to commission the 8th flyover located on Ada George road, Obio-Akpor Local Government Area.

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi also commissioned the 9th flyover at the popular Ikoku junction on Thursday. Similarly, President Muhammadu Buhari commissioned the Port Harcourt Campus of the Nigeria Law School on Friday.