The political landscape in Nigeria witnessed a sharp ideological clash on Tuesday, July 7, 2026, as Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, the vice-presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), issued a forceful rebuttal against former Borno State Governor, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff. Kwankwaso systematically dismissed assertions made by Sheriff suggesting that the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, lacks any significant or meaningful political support across the northern region of the country.
The highly charged remarks were contained in an official public statement posted on Kwankwaso’s verified social media page on Tuesday. The comprehensive response was triggered by an provocative interview that Ali Modu Sheriff granted to Channels Television on Monday evening, during which the former Borno governor questioned the regional viability and northern mass appeal of the opposition's political configurations. According to Kwankwaso, who is a former executive Governor of Kano State and the undisputed leader of the highly influential Kwankwasiyya political movement, Sheriff’s dismissive comments are completely disconnected from the actual, data-driven political reality on the ground in Northern Nigeria.
To support his argument, Kwankwaso pointed directly to historical polling figures, insisting that Obi recorded an impressive, highly consequential total of approximately 2.8 million votes across the various northern states during the previous presidential election cycle. The NDC vice-presidential candidate maintained that a voter turnout of this magnitude for a first-time presidential contender completely debunks the false narrative that the region is entirely closed off to alternative political platforms or candidates from the southern part of the country.
“For the absolute record, in his very first outing on the presidential ballot, Mr. Peter Obi successfully secured approximately 2.8 million votes within the northern region alone — a highly remarkable and documented electoral achievement that simply cannot be dismissed lightly by anyone pretending to analyze Nigerian politics objectively,” Kwankwaso asserted in his statement.
Going further, the former Kano State governor argued that the political dynamics of the North have shifted even more dramatically since the last general election. He identified what he described as a massive, rapidly growing wave of deep public dissatisfaction across the region regarding the socioeconomic performance, security challenges, and unfulfilled promises of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)-led federal administration. Kwankwaso noted that with the worsening economic pressures facing ordinary citizens and the strategic addition of a formidable, deeply rooted Northern political figure like himself to the unified "OK" presidential ticket, the alliance stands as an incredibly powerful, structurally sound political force across the entire northern geography.
Kwankwaso also directed a significant portion of his rebuttal toward defending his primary political stronghold, flatly rejecting Sheriff’s specific claim that voters in Kano State would categorically refuse to cast their ballots for Peter Obi. The seasoned politician maintained that the highly conscious electorate of Kano has historically shown that it is guided by progressive governance ideals rather than ethnic or regional sentiments. He emphasized that the residents of the state have consistently and overwhelmingly backed political candidates and policy platforms officially endorsed and presented by the disciplined Kwankwasiyya movement.
“The good and politically sophisticated people of Kano State are neither bigoted nor xenophobic in their voting patterns,” Kwankwaso stated emphatically. “They have consistently and unreservedly demonstrated a strong, unbreakable trust in the structural integrity of the Kwankwasiyya movement, and they will enthusiastically support any credible, competent ticket presented under its official banner.”
Shifting from a defensive posture to an aggressive political counter-offensive, Kwankwaso strongly advised Ali Modu Sheriff to redirect his personal focus and political energy toward addressing the severe, ongoing security crises and protracted humanitarian challenges currently ravaging his home state of Borno. He criticized the former governor for choosing to make what he characterized as highly divisive, inflammatory, and distracting political commentary on national television while communities in the Northeast continue to suffer from the traumatic effects of insurgency and socioeconomic displacement.
Kwankwaso concluded his comprehensive statement by re-centering the national conversation around the core governance philosophy of the combined "OK" political framework. He confidently stated that the alliance offers everyday Nigerians a rare, authentic opportunity to systematically reset the country’s developmental trajectory. He maintained that the joint ticket is explicitly engineered to bypass traditional, toxic identity politics, choosing instead to elevate the core national values of administrative competence, genuine federal unity, and tangible economic progress for all geopolitical zones.
