Former Kano State Governor and leader of the Kwankwasiyya Movement, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has said he bears no resentment towards Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, despite their political differences, stressing that he remains open to reconciliation.
Kwankwaso made the remarks during an interview with the BBC on Sunday, where he reflected on his relationship with the governor and the importance of forgiveness in politics.
According to him, Governor Yusuf was the one who distanced himself from the movement and not the other way round.
“I still love Abba and I didn’t reject him; he is the one that left. So not just Abba, if anyone who left comes back, I won’t be unforgiving,” Kwankwaso said.
Drawing parallels with his past political relationship with former Kano State Governor and former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, Kwankwaso said political disagreements should not permanently damage relationships.
“Look at Ganduje, in the many years we worked together, Ganduje mistreated me even when I was Minister of Defence, but I forgave him. We fell out several times and got back together. That is how politics works,” he said.
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SolaceBase reports that the former governor also maintained that Yusuf’s emergence as governor was made possible by the strength and popularity of the Kwankwasiyya Movement and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).
“We picked Abba to contest under the NNPP, and we won, but he left to join the people we defeated. Some say he did so because he feared losing his position, but he knows there was no way we would have been defeated in Kano,” Kwankwaso stated during the interview.
He further argued that Yusuf’s selection as the party’s governorship candidate was not based on seniority or academic qualifications but on the movement’s confidence in its political structure.
“We did not choose him because he was the most senior or the most educated. We chose him because we wanted to test the strength and calibre of the Kwankwasiyya Movement at that time,” he said.
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Kwankwaso emphasized that forgiveness and tolerance are essential qualities for political leadership, noting that people often hold different views due to their diverse backgrounds and experiences.
“As a leader, you need to have an open heart. You cannot force people to think the way you do because we all come from different backgrounds and have different perspectives. Without forgiveness, we would not have come this far,” he added.
