Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, the national chairman of the Peoples Redemption Party, has denied allegations that the party sold 69 nomination forms in Kano to Rabiu Kwankwaso, the Nigeria Democratic Congress’s 2027 vice presidential candidate.
In an interview with ARISE Television on Tuesday, Baba-Ahmed clarified that the claim was “complete fiction” and had no foundation in the party’s operations.
“This is entirely made up. This is just pure bunkum, the true state chairman of the PRP in Kano declared in a statement.
The dispute started when Abdulkadir Musa-Guza, the self-described Chairman of the PRP in Kano state, stated that Kwankwaso or his accomplices had purchased forms for all 69 elective seats in Kano in order to purportedly take control of the party structure prior to the national elections in 2027.
Speaking during a news conference at the NUJ news Center in Kano, Musa-Guza claimed that the former governor of Kano State was on a cunning mission against the party without showing any indications that he would defect to PRP.
Baba-Ahmed, however, stated that Kwankwaso could not have bought 69 nomination papers from the PRP in Kano because the party does not provide them for sale at the state level.
Former Governor Kwankwaso could not have purchased 69 forms from the PRP in Kano. We sell forms from Abuja, not from Kano. The party has no idea who spoke and claimed to have sold Kwankwaso 69 forms. He is not authorized to sell any forms and has no position. Baba-Ahmed remarked, “We don’t know him.”
He speculated that there might have been political motivation behind the accusation.
“This whole affair might have been staged as part of some issues or politics in Kano. Regarding the PRP, we sold forms, just like we do for everyone else from Abuja. Forms were sold to Kano candidates. More over a month ago, they registered, ran for office, and went through the primaries.
He continued, “The candidates have come out of there, and we are sending their names to INEC.”
Even Kwankwaso was taken aback by the assertion, according to Baba-Ahmed.
“Kwankwaso is as amused as everyone else that he would purchase 69 forms for nonexistent candidates, according to our conversation. He stated, “He’s not a party member.”
In response to inquiries regarding prior defections involving Kwankwaso and NDC presidential candidate Peter Obi, the PRP chairman stated that talks had occurred but no official action had been taken.
They did attend our celebration. We spoke about whether or not they could attend the party for a while. They ultimately concluded that there was insufficient proof that the party would satisfy their needs. We parted ways as friends once they moved on, and we remain friends with them,” he remarked.
Baba-Ahmed denied allegations of PRP factionalism in response to accusations of an internal crisis.
There is no faction within the PRP. We went through a very challenging and hard period when attempts were made to cripple us from both the inside and the outside.
“We had some issues because INEC failed to upload our names following our successful convention, which INEC observed for almost a month. However, we overcame that. We are a really healthy party as I speak to you right now.
“We anticipate a fierce and open competition. And we think we have a very good probability that this time the PRP will have an impact,” he stated.
