A former Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, on Tuesday, said both the Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress have failed Nigerians.
Kwankwaso, however, maintained that he remained a member of the PDP, despite the formation of a Third Force, under the aegis of The National Movement.
The presidential aspirant stated this while featuring as a guest on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ programme monitored by The PUNCH.
Earlier in the day, Kwankwaso; former Minister of Youths and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung; popular Northern critic, Buba Galadima; and other prominent Nigerians inaugurated the group in Abuja.
According to them, the Third Force would take over power from the APC in 2023.
The TNM said it was conscious of its strong duties to save Nigeria from disintegration.
When asked on the television programme hours later whether he was still a member of the PDP, Kwankwaso said, “I’m a member of the PDP and in the group, you have many people who are from APC, others from APGA (All Progressives Grand Alliance), even other political parties and a lot of people have no party at all.
“We decided as Nigerians, especially those of us who are very much worried about what is happening in terms of governance, in terms of security, in terms of the polity, in terms of education and infrastructure.”
On whether the group would dovetail into a political party, he said, “I believe anything can happen”, adding that the leadership of the PDP has not done the right thing in the last one year.
The former Kano governor also said the Third Force planned “to achieve real democracy in this country”.
Asked whether he shared the view that both the PDP and the APC have failed Nigerians, he said, “Yes, there are some serious challenges. I was a member of PDP in 1998 during its formation and by 1999, I was the governor of Kano, then Minister of Defence, then I was in the NDDC (Niger Delta Development Commission) representing North-West on the Board.
“We realised that there were issues and therefore was the need to correct those mistakes. That was why in 2015, we decided that there will be some political changes in this country. That was why my humble self and some other governors teamed up and formed the APC and we worked for the party succeeded believing that we would have positive change in the country but unfortunately, many people believed that PDP was even better.”
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