President Bola Tinubu has kick-started moves to reconcile the national leader of the NNPP, Rabiu Kwankwaso and the National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Ganduje, ahead of his push for a second term in office in 2027

The president has communicated his intention to both leaders separately and has given them some time to inform their stakeholders of his intention, and return at a later date to finalise the reconciliation process.

President Tinubu met with Ganduje and some select APC stakeholders from Kano State last week Thursday, and met with Kwankwaso on Sunday, just as he plans to personally chair a reconciliation meeting where the two former governors of Kano State are expected to come with two persons each.

The president had asked Ganduje to meet with APC stakeholders in Kano on Thursday, and commence the process of solidifying the unity of purpose amongst them.

The president informed Ganduje of his intention to bring Kwankwaso into APC, and asked the latter to devise a strategy of realising this objective. As a first step towards achieving that goal, however, the president asked Ganduje to convene a meeting in Kano, in order to secure the buy-in of APC stakeholders in the state.

It was gathered further that while many of the APC stakeholders at the meeting in Abuja had their reservations about what the president was proposing, none could raise a dissenting voice.

“There was no room for that (dissenting voice). What happened was that the plan for the meeting with the president was to allow the chairman to do the opening remark and then yield the floor to Barau (Jibrin, the deputy Senate President) as well as (Alhassan Ado) Doguwa (member representing Doguwa/Tudunwada Federal Constituency of Kano State).

“But as the chairman was rounding off his speech, the president put on his microphone, signalling that he was ready to speak and he did not mince words in what he told them. First, he learnt that the members of the APC family in Kano were unhappy with the Supreme Court judgment that retained Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, and that many of the party faithful felt let down by him (the president) over this development,” the source said.

The president was then said to have appealed to the party’s leaders at the meeting to reach out to the Kano APC family in Kano and appease them, assuring that he (President Tinubu) played no role in the loss suffered by the party.

“The second thing the president said was that our chairman should use the reconciliation skills to effectively manage the Kano APC stakeholders, after which he should return to him for further consultation.

“Shockingly, the president never said anything about possible ‘compensation’ for Gawuna and Garo (the governorship candidate and his deputy) with some political appointments,” the source added.