The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, on Tuesday declared the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) as politically defunct, suggesting that its national leader and former Kano State governor, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, is poised to return to the APC.
Ganduje made the statement in Abuja while receiving the Tinubu Support Group on a courtesy visit to the APC National Secretariat. Speaking with a mix of political finality and symbolic imagery, the former Kano State governor said the APC was ready to receive Kwankwaso “back home.”
“The NNPP is dead. And it will soon be buried, very, very soon,” Ganduje said pointedly. “I’m hoping where we will put the dead body, the coffin has already been constructed. What remains now is to dig the grave. And already, they are digging the grave.”
The APC chairman said the ruling party has been experiencing a wave of defections, welcoming prominent politicians and lawmakers from across the country, an indication, he believes, of the APC’s growing national appeal and the faltering momentum of opposition parties.
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“Even the so-called NNPP national leader, after losing everyone, now says he wants to come back to us,” Ganduje continued. “We will welcome him, because he is coming back home.”
Ganduje’s comments come amid renewed speculation about political realignments ahead of the 2027 general elections. Opposition figures, including members of the NNPP and other parties, have hinted at forming a coalition to challenge President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s leadership.
However, Ganduje dismissed the prospect of a united opposition, predicting that such attempts would fail under the weight of internal contradictions and personal ambitions.
“Some are talking of forming a coalition, but I assure you, when the time comes, the same people will return to the APC. We have seen this movie before,” he said with confidence.
Although Kwankwaso has not publicly confirmed plans to rejoin the APC, political analysts suggest that Ganduje’s remarks may not be entirely speculative. The two leaders, once close allies during their tenure in Kano State, became estranged in the build-up to the 2019 elections but have remained central figures in the shifting dynamics of Northern politics.
© Ripples Nigeria