Indications have emerged that the NNPP presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso may function as the Minister of Agriculture or Education in the administration of Bola Tinubu expected to be inaugurated May 29, ABN TV reports.
This was the outcome of the meeting which took place in France between the duo on Tuesday.
Kwankwaso, a former governor of Kano State had won only his state in the presidential election and refused the challenge the outcome of the poll which saw Tinubu emerge the winner.
ABN TV had earlier reported that Tinubu met with Kwankwaso during which he extended a hand of friendship with a view to working together after he takes over from President Muhammadu Buhari on May 29.
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The choice of incorporating Kwankwaso into the administration is not unconnected with the large followership of his Kwankwasiyya group in Kano and other parts of the North.
A credible source told our reporter that apart from the meeting between Tinubu and Kwankwaso in Paris, another one was held between the president-elect and Sanusi and then another one between Kwankwaso and the former emir.
“The three separate meetings were meant to strengthen ties. The president-elect seriously needs the support of the two leading personalities from Kano,” one of our sources said.
“While Kwankwaso is a politician in his own right who has a large followership not only in Kano but across the North, the former emir is a technocrat who knows the economy very well as evident in how he handled the Central Bank of Nigeria,” another source said.
According to sources, Tinubu and Kwankwaso met for hours in Paris, the capital of France.
The former Lagos governor reportedly told Kwankwaso to reach out to his political associates on the need to work together.
The incoming president and his guest were said to have agreed to hold subsequent meetings.
But beyond that, it was gathered that the president-elect had offered a ministerial position to Kwankwaso.
“He told the NNPP leader to choose between the Ministry of Agriculture and that of Education,” one of our sources said.
It is not clear whether Kwankwaso will accept to serve as a minister in the event they sealed the partnership or he will give the slot to one of his loyalists.
“The meeting was attended by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila. Kwankwaso was accompanied to the meeting by member-elect from Kano, Hon Abdulmumin Jibrin,” the source said.
“Sen Oluremi Tinubu was also there to receive Kwankwaso’s wife, Hajia Salamatu who came with her husband. Discussions were centered around their long-term friendship since their days in the National Assembly in 1992, national unity and development, priorities for the new government, National Assembly contests, and the plan by the president-elect for a government of national unity, which Kwankwaso has in principle accepted to join.”
The source said Tinubu also hinted at reconciling Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano and Kwankwaso. Ganduje had succeeded Kwankwaso in 2015, but the duo fell apart shortly after.
ABN TV reports that Tinubu had defeated Kwankwaso and other 16 presidential candidates in the February 25, 2023 elections.
He had been a Minister of Defence, a governor, and a Senator. It is not clear if he would be part of the cabinet or he would nominate a loyalist into the incoming FEC.
