Kwankwaso Not Threat To Tinubu In Lagos — Electorate 

Lagos State electorate on Friday dismissed the visit of the Vice Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democrat (NDC), Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, on Thursday to Lagos with a wave of the hands, saying he visited a Hausa/Fulani and Ibo dominated area of the state.

The NDC while in Lagos State visited the popular Ilepo and Kontagora Market in Alimosho Local Government Area in company of the gubernatorial candidate of NDC in Lagos, Mr. Funso Doherty, the Surulere Federal Constituency Candidate and other candidates of the party.

His visit became a volatile political issue because he is running as a vice presidential candidate to Mr. Peter Obi, who contested the 2023 presidential election on the Labour Party platform and secured 582,454 votes in Lagos, while Tinubu of the APC polled 572,606 votes.

Reacting to Kwankwaso’s visit to the areas where he was accorded very high reception in the state, Mr. Ajayi Segun said the politician had before now maintained his ties with traders in the market mediating with the state government any time they had issues with the government.

‘’ Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso is the leader of the kwankwasiyya movement. A very strong political movement known all over the country. He is a very strong politician who has also built bridges across the country.

‘’ This time around he is running with Mr. Peter Obi as running mate and Peter Obi won Lagos State in the 2023 general elections. One thing you have to know right now is that the political dynamics in the state have since changed. The Yoruba people will never allow that to happen again. Lagos State again. The 2023 election took them unawares.’’

‘’In fact if you are not voting for the All Progressives Congress (APC) the party of the president you may have to be very careful in your polling unit in the 2027 general election. So it will not be possible for Peter Obi to win

For another respondent, Haruna Abdulahi, a trader at Ilepo Market,’’ Kwankwaso is our leader. We love him so much. We have to welcome him to our market. Not everybody that came out to welcome him will vote for him. We are trading in this market. This market is controlled by the Lagos State government. The government has made us happy in the market. We will vote to support the government.’’

Another respondent Linus Emeka said a combination of the Presidential candidate of NDC, Mr. Peter Obi and Senator Kwankwaso is a bad one for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos, noting that the political reality   that a lot of people have rejected APC and their former governor who is now the president of the country.

“ What people are praying for in 2027 is a free and fair election. If the voters will not be intimidated and there is no violence, then you have Peter Obi and Kwankwaso on the ballot. They will win, defeat President Bola Tinubu and the APC again by a wider margin in Lagos. Who will vote for the APC with this hardship that Nigerians are going through.”

Meanwhile, the Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has dismissed the insinuations that the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) that its presidential candidate, Peter Obi and his deputy Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso will defeat President Bola Tinubu in Lagos State in the 2027 election.

According to the APC spokesman in Lagos, Hon. Seye Oladejo said the 2023 presidential election had come and gone and should not be used as a yardstick for every other election, adding that the 2027 election would be determined by voters.

Oladejo, a notable defender of his party noted that Lagos is currently being governed by the APC, saying all political parties are currently campaigning to persuade voters afresh through their candidates, policies, organisation, mobilisation and records and not relying on the outcome of the previous election.

He urged political actors to avoid reducing Lagos politics to identity-based calculations, saying the state is a cosmopolitan society with residents from different ethnic and religious backgrounds.