Why I chose Kwankwaso as my running mate, Peter Obi

The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Peter Obi, has shared why he picked former Kano State governor and Kwankwasiyya Movement leader, Rabiu Kwankwaso, as his running mate for the 2027 presidential election.

In an interview with The Sun published on Sunday, Obi said they both want to lift Nigerians out of poverty through education and economic growth.

Obi explained that Kwankwaso’s ideas match his own plans for changing the country.

“Kwankwaso has the philosophy of pulling people out of poverty.

“I have the same philosophy. Kwankwaso believes in education. You cannot change society without education.

“If you look at my X, formerly Twitter, I made it clear that I will emphasise education. Education is going to change society.

“Nigeria must be seen to form its innermost human capital, which we need to develop. Kwankwaso believes in this. I do. We have synergy,” Obi said.

On Unity and Cooperation

The former Anambra State governor also rejected claims of any disagreements between him and Kwankwaso. He said they are united as they head towards the January 2027 general election.

“I don’t know why people talk about differences between people who are working together. Have you ever seen us quarrelling?

“You see, people quarrel even in offices because of transactional governance. The country is in a mess because of transactional governance. I am not into transactional government. I am into transformational governance.

“We want to change the society and make it better. We want to pull people out of poverty, not the other way around,” he said.

PUNCH Online reports that Obi and Kwankwaso finished third and fourth, respectively, in the 2023 presidential election. They were behind President Bola Tinubu of the APC and Vice President Atiku Abubakar, then of the Peoples Democratic Party.

Obi ran with the Labour Party, while Kwankwaso was with the New Nigeria Peoples Party.

In 2026, both men and Atiku formed an alliance under the ADC before Obi and Kwankwaso left for the NDC due to internal issues and legal problems.

When asked why their alliance did not happen before the 2023 election, Obi said he is looking towards the future, not the past.

“Those who think about yesterday and today will miss tomorrow. The past is gone. We are talking about the present,” he said.

Managing Supporters

On worries about bringing together supporters from the Obidient Movement and the Kwankwasiyya Movement, Obi mentioned that both groups share the same goal for national change.

“We do not just have large followers alone. People are gravitating to what is right. How are we going to manage them? We have no problem whatsoever. We want to change the society. Our followers want a changed and better society,” he added.