Joining a rival party after winning election is the greatest political sin – KWANKWASO

Sunday, May 11, 2025 - The leader of the Kwankwasiyya movement and Presidential Candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has strongly criticised politicians who abandon the party after benefiting from the support of ordinary citizens, describing such defections as the greatest political betrayal.

Speaking in Kano at his Miller Road residence while receiving a group of defectors from Takai Local Government Area of Kano South into the NNPP, Kwankwaso lamented the actions of political figures who, after gaining public trust, switch allegiance to rival parties.

“We all know the history of this movement. Unfortunately, in 2015, some individuals joined us with dishonest intentions. They brought disunity and tried to destabilize the movement. But thank God, the movement did not derail,” he said.

His comments come in the wake of the recent departure of key NNPP members, including Senator Abdurrahman Kawu Sumaila and Kabiru Alhassan Rurum, to the All Progressives Congress (APC), a move seen by many as a political realignment ahead of future elections.

Kwankwaso described past elections as learning moments for the movement. “When the 2019 elections came, everyone saw what happened, and the most recent one also taught us valuable lessons,” he said.

“This movement is for the people. It is a movement that right-thinking individuals should reflect on deeply. It’s not about money. Even what happened in Kano South should be taken as a lesson. Some people collected spaghetti and N2,000 to elect someone. But in Kano, the poor stood firm. If it had been left to those selling their votes, the NNPP wouldn’t have won,” he said.

He condemned politicians who, after being elected through public support, abandon the platform that brought them to power. “This is the highest form of betrayal in a democratic setting. I don’t know of any greater political sin than when vulnerable people vote for you, rejecting deceivers and enemies of progress and you turn around to join those same enemies after winning. Had the people known, they wouldn’t have voted for you,” Kwankwaso stated.