The Peoples Democratic Party has labelled a former Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, as a failed and insignificant politician.
Kwankwaso, the 2023 presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, had stated that the PDP is no longer relevant in the country.
During the inauguration of a newly renovated party office in Katsina State on Saturday, Kwankwaso stated that he and his supporters departed from the PDP because “it is dead.”
“I wish to remind you that PDP is dead because we left the party. Since they have gone out of the line, we decided to check out,” he said.
In response, the PDP, through a statement on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary Debo Ologunagba, criticised Kwankwaso for displaying selfishness and self-centeredness, indicating that he is not a true leader.
The statement read, “Our reaction to the statement credited to Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso is that he is very inconsequential in the Nigerian national politics today judging from the fact that he is struggling to lead a party called NNPP which is also struggling to control only one state.
“It is unfathomable to imagine that a failed and inconsequential politician with only one state would claim that a party that has 13 governors, many Senators, many members of the House of Representatives, several States Assembly control and strong presence in all the local government areas and wards across the country is dead.
“More disturbing is that Sen. Kwankwaso has exhibited extreme selfishness and self-centeredness, which shows that he is not a leader.”
The PDP described Kwankwaso as an insensitive politician and noted that all of his achievements were attained through the party’s platform.
The statement continued, “It is unfortunate that at this time when the PDP and patriotic Nigerians are speaking out against the excruciating hardship in the country occasioned by the anti-people policies of the APC administration, at this time Nigerians including in Sen. Kwankwaso’s home state, Kano are dying of hunger and starvation.
“When over 150 million Nigerians have sunk deeper into poverty when millions of Nigerians are daily losing their means of livelihood; at the time the Naira has fallen to over N1,600 to a Dollar with over 34% inflation rate in the wake of APC’s brutal increase in the price of petrol to over N1,200 in various parts of the country, the only thing that occupies Senator Kwankwaso’s mind is his self-centred pipe dream of becoming President. It is very unfortunate.
“So the PDP does not intend to join issues with him on such display of self-centeredness and insensitivity. In any event, whatever political relevance Sen. Kwankwaso believes he has achieved, he did so only when he was in the PDP.”