You can’t use ethnic politics to cut short Southern presidency, Nabena tells Kwankwaso
ABUJA: A prominent figure within the ruling All Progressives Congress APC, Hon. Yekini Nabena, has rebuked former Kano State Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, over his recent comments concerning project distribution and development across Nigeria.
Nabena asserted that such “inciting comments” would not compel President Bola Tinubu into political negotiations with Kwankwaso.
The former acting National Publicity Secretary of the APC in a statement on Tuesday, declared that any ethnic, religious, or regional sentiments raised by Kwankwaso against a Southern presidency would not hold water.
He emphasized that the Southern region must be allowed to complete its uninterrupted eight-year tenure in the Presidency.
Kwankwaso, who was the presidential candidate for the New Nigeria People’s Party NNPP in the 2023 general election, had recently criticized the federal government’s distribution of national wealth, alleging that the South was being unfairly favored over the North.
The leader of the Kwankwasiyya movement claimed that road networks in the North remained in poor condition, while infrastructural investments were concentrated more heavily in the Southern parts of the country.
In response, Nabena accused the former governor of attempting to incite Northerners against the current administration and against the re-election of a Southerner in 2027 to complete the eight-year cycle of a Southern presidency.
The APC chieftain contended that such incitement, aimed at “a political business or negotiation, like some politicians did in 2019 and 2023, can no longer work because the people now know the real intention.”
He added that, “the Kano voters now know who is using them for political business and even the political gladiators now understand the tactics of political merchants.”
The Bayelsa-born politician challenged Kwankwaso to undertake a road trip across the South-South states and compare the “road networks in the Oil-rich region, where the major revenue is coming from” with those in the Northern region.
Nabena further questioned Kwankwaso’s complaints about under-development in the North, given that the region had just completed an eight-year tenure at the helm of national affairs.
He sarcastically asked, “One will also wonder which of the northern money or resources was used to develop the South? Is it the Gold, Rice or Groundnut pyramids?”
“As a politician, we all understand what the former governor is up to. He is working hard to incite the North against the Southern presidency but that has failed woefully because the South must complete its eight years in the presidency for fairness and equity,” he reiterated.
The former APC spokesman concluded by asserting that Kwankwaso lacks the capacity to intimidate the South ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“You cannot intimidate the South or anybody with Kano votes any longer because as a politician we all know the game and what you are up to. The era of playing religious or ethnic cards is far becoming unfashionable,” Nabena warned.
