President Bola Tinubu on Friday, September 26, met former governor of Kano state, Rabiu Kwankwaso.
A clip shared on X (formerly Twitter) by Dada Olusegun, special assistant to President Tinubu on social media, showed the Nigerian leader exchanging pleasantries with Kwankwaso as well as Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Ibikunle Amosun, former governors of Osun and Ogun states respectively.
Kwankwaso ran unsuccessfully against Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election. The Kano-born politician received just 6.23% of the vote under the platform of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).
The political leaders met at the historic Mapo Hall in Ibadan, Oyo state, during the coronation of Oba Rasheed Adewolu, the new Olubadan of Ibadan.
Legit.ng reports that Tinubu, a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), is a former governor himself, having governed Lagos from 1999 to 2007. Before his election as president of West Africa’s most populous nation, Tinubu was the national leader of the APC.
Meanwhile, earlier on Friday, September 26, Kwankwaso dismissed reports claiming he and Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano state have written to the APC indicating their intention to return to the party.
In a statement, Kwankwaso described the reports circulating online as false, clarifying that no such letter had been submitted to any political party.
He advised Nigerians to stay informed of any information regarding NNPP’s affairs through the established official channels.
President Tinubu congratulated Oba Ladoja and the people of ancient Ibadanland on the historic occasion. Tunde Rahman, a senior special assistant to Tinubu, quoted the president as saying: “It’s a great honour to be here to witness history. My prayer is that you will live long and be celebrated as one of the real gems in history to ascend the throne of his forebears.
“If I start to recall the moment and history we shared together in the senate, and when we were both governors, your impeachment story and how you came back to office, we would not leave here.
“Demonstrated in all of that are your tenacity, your dependability and reliability. “E ku ojo oni. E ku ayeye eni. Ayo na ko ni di ibanuje oo. K’ade pe lori, ki bata pe lese.”
