Fresh facts emerged, on Tuesday, as to why the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, met separately with former Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso and former Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, in Paris, on Monday.
NewMailNG had earlier reported that Tinubu met with Kwankwaso during which he extended a hand of friendship with a view to working together after he takes over from President Muhammadu Buhari on May 29.
However, credible sources told our reporter that it was a tripartite meeting in Paris as besides the one between Tinubu and Kwankwaso, another one was held between the president-elect and Sanusi and then another one between Kwankwaso and the former emir.
“The three separate meetings were meant to strengthen ties. The president-elect seriously needs the support of the two leading personalities from Kano,” one of our sources said.
“While Kwankwaso is a politician in his own right who has a large followership not only in Kano but across the North, the former emir is a technocrat who knows the economy very well as evident in how he handled the Central Bank of Nigeria,” another source said.
According to sources, Tinubu and Kwankwaso met for hours in Paris, capital of France.
The former Lagos governor reportedly told Kwankwaso to reach out to his political associates on the need to work together.
The incoming president and his guest were said to have agreed to hold subsequent meetings.
But beyond that, it was gathered that the president-elect had offered a ministerial position to Kwankwaso.
“He told the NNPP leader to choose between the ministry of agriculture and that of education,” one of our sources said.
It is not clear whether Kwankwaso will accept to serve as a minister in the event they sealed the partnership or he will give the slot to one of his loyalists.
“The meeting was attended by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila. Kwankwaso was accompanied to the meeting by member-elect from Kano, Hon Abdulmumin Jibrin,” the source said.
“Sen Oluremi Tinubu was also there to receive Kwankwaso’s wife, Hajia Salamatu who came with her husband. Discussions were centred around their long term friendship since their days in the National Assembly in 1992, national unity and development, priorities for the new government, National Assembly contests and the plan by the president-elect for a government of national unity, which Kwankwaso has in principle accepted to join.”
The source said Tinubu also hinted at reconciling Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano and Kwankwaso. Ganduje had succeeded Kwankwaso in 2015, but the duo fell apart shortly after.
Tinubu had defeated Kwankwaso and other 16 presidential candidates in the February 25, 2023 elections.
Kwankwaso, who ran on the platform of the NNPP, placed fourth in the election, winning only Kano State, a stronghold of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came second while Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) came third.
Soon after his declaration, Tinubu extended an olive branch to those he defeated but Atiku and Obi rebuffed the call and headed to court calling for his sack. Both of them had claimed victory in the polls and alleged that they were rigged out by the ruling party in connivance with some vested interests.
Besides winning Kano in the presidential election and producing the governor, Kwankwaso’s NNPP had won two senate seats in the state, cleared 17 out of the 24 House of Representatives seats and 26 out of 40 seats of the State House of Assembly.
It was gathered that despite losing Kano in the presidential election to Kwankwaso, Tinubu believed the votes he got from the state and the North West played a key role in his emergence as president and working hard to maintain a positive disposition in the region.
The North West gave Tinubu 2, 652, 235 votes, which is over 30 per cent of the total votes he garnered across the country.
Our correspondent reports that the relationship between Tinubu and Kwankwaso is not new. They collectively formed the APC with other like-minds ahead of 2015.
There were no details of what Kwankwaso and Emir Sanusi discussed but a source said they met for two hours and the discussion may not be unconnected with the recent political developments in Kano.