Baba-Ahmed Lied, Obi, Kwankwaso Never Made Any Demand From Him Or PRP – Kwankwasiyya Movement

By Suleiman Anyalewechi 

The Kwankwasiyya Movement  has described the claims made by the National Chairman of the Peoples Redemption Party, PRP, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, concerning the botched alignment talks with Peter Obi and Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, as a mere attention-seeking strategy.

The Source reports that  Baba-Ahmed, in a recent interview with the DITV Kaduna, had claimed that a proposed alignment between the PRP and the duo of Obi and Kwankwaso could not sail through owing to the conditionalities attached by the two former Presidential candidates.

According to the PRP National Chairman ,the two had demanded an automatic presidential ticket of the party as a necessary pre-condition to join.

“They came and said they wanted to join the PRP, but when we sat down and discussed with them, there were certain demands they made.

“They wanted an assurance that they will secure the party’s Presidential ticket without internal contest”, Baba-Ahmed stated .

Baba-Ahmed claimed that the PRP’s rejection of the demand, eventually led to the collapse of the alignment talks.

But responding to the claims, Dr Habibu Sale, the spokesperson for the Kwankwasiyya Movement, insisted that there were  no formal alignment talks known to the Movement between the PRP and the duo of Obi and Kwankwaso.

According to him, besides the informal contacts made by several parties trying to woo Obi and Kwankwaso as well as other opposition figures, there were no official alignment discussions between the PRP and the two leaders.

He emphasized that following the compelling need for an alternative platform in the face of the challenges and uncertainties surrounding the fate of the opposition camp, several parties, including the PRP, explored the possibilities of alignment with opposition figures.

But Sale maintained that there were no formal alignment meetings to discuss or put forward any demands.

“To us, there is no evidence that Peter Obi and Kwankwaso sat down and discussed moving into the PRP.

“We know that the PRP itself,  like the NDC, tried to reach out not only to Peter Obi and Kwankwaso, but to all coalition forces, especially during the period when the crisis in the ADC became apparent.

“There were no formal sittings that warranted any requests or conditions being put forward by my principal.”, he noted.

While dismissing Baba-Ahmed’s claims, the Kwankwasiyya Movement spokesperson emphasized that the PRP does not have the structural strength to warrant such demands from the opposition camp.

“At this point in time, the PRP is not a party that can boast of being formidable enough to warrant Kwankwaso and Obi making such demands”, Sale added.