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A chieftain of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Buba Galadima, has revealed that his party decided against challenging the victory of the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, in court because it doesn't have the required war chest.
Galadima made this known while responding to questions on the recent meeting between the NNPP presidential candidate, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, and Tinubu in Paris, the French capital.
It was reported that the President-elect was able to convince Kwankwaso to join his government of national unity after a meeting between the duo in Paris, brokered by a mutual ally and former Tinubu’s campaign coordinator, Abdulmumini Jibrin.
Jibrin, who was pushed out of the All Progressives Congress (APC) courtesy of a rift with the outgoing Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, won a House of Representatives seat under the NNPP in the last election.
Although details of the meeting are still being kept under wraps, it was gathered that Tinubu and Kwankwaso have agreed in principle to form a political alliance ahead of the next general elections in 2027.
Speaking to Arise TV on the matter, Galadima first downplayed the public hysteria about the meeting which he described as a normal occurrence in Nigeria’s political history.
He said, “Everything in Nigeria is news. Ordinarily, a meeting between two political leaders should not attract that kind of ecstasy by the citizenry.
“But you know Senator Kwankwaso contested against the president-elect in the 2023 election in which the NNPP came fourth. However, after the contest, we’re one party that didn’t go to court even though we’re the only people who have credible reasons to go to court. That in itself speaks volumes and can be interpreted in several ways.
“The actual situation is that meetings of such nature and even the idea of unity government are not something new in Nigerian politics. It happened in the First Republic between the NCNC and the NPC – that’s Azikiwe’s and Ahmadu Bello’s parties.
“Later, there was also a unity government that was formed between the NPC and the NNDP led by Chief Samuel Akintola of the Western Region. Of course it’s also on record that during the government of Shagari, the NPP led by Nnamdi Azikiwe had an agreement with the government of the NPN.
“So, it’s history that’s repeating itself. This is why there is the need to educate the young people about the history of their country.”
Galadima explains why NNPP didn't go to court
On why the NNPP didn't challenge Tinubu's victory at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) like their Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party counterparts, Galadima said his party simply doesn't have the financial resources to take on such endeavour.
“First, we have to place on record that it’s the PDP that has expelled both Kwankwaso and myself. So we wouldn’t have been in a race just to stop them from winning an election.
“But we also know that even going to court entails a lot of resources which we didn’t have. Our performance was measured solely on our credibility and not on the deep pocket.
“For anybody to go to court to challenge an election, that person must have not less than N5 billion naira. We don’t have that money to do that,” he said.