A prominent northern politician and chieftain of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Alhaji Buba Galadima, has clarified the controversy over the roles of support groups backing the party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates, Peter Obi and Musa Kwankwaso. He said support groups could operate independently but must respect the party’s authority if formally aligned with it. Galadima also predicted victory for the Obi-Kwankwaso ticket in 2027, provided the election is free and transparent. He spoke on Channels Television’s Politics Today. David Lawani monitored the interview
What is happening in the NDC? Are support groups beginning to exercise too much influence over the party?
A lot of people don’t understand that, having managed political parties and the political process for the last 48 years, I think I can qualify as a consultant on this issue. Support groups are not necessarily members of the party.
Shouldn’t they be?
They can carry out their activities independently if they want. But if they subordinate themselves to the party and sign up as a support group for the presidential, governorship, Senate, House of Representatives or House of Assembly candidate, then they have to toe the line of the party. That is what it is.
You don’t carry an NDC membership card, although many consider you a member. Where do you stand?
What I know for sure is that you will vote, even if you are not a member of any political party.
I hardly vote because I am usually in the studio on election day. But I get your point. Do you see any conflict?
Then you are not a good citizen.
Do you think there is a conflict between the support groups and the party?
Everybody has to understand his role, position and status. There are two major support groups we know within the NDC: the ‘Kwankwasiyya Movement’ and the ‘Obidient Movement’. By virtue of the presence of the two flag bearers, the presidential candidate and the vice-presidential candidate, these support groups and movements are going in a direction that some party leaders are not comfortable with. They believe that the groups are operating parallel to the intent and agenda of the party.
The groups have announced structures ahead of the party’s campaign council. What exactly is the issue?
They did not announce a campaign council for the ADC or NDC. What they announced was a campaign council for their own group.
Is that the right thing to do?
It depends on the angle from which anybody is looking at it. I don’t think there is any conflict. Legally, you can support a candidate without being a member of his political party.
Can you give us an idea of what is really going on?
Mr Kwankwaso and Peter Obi will be on the same page.
Are they driving the same agenda?
I may know where you are heading.
Can you share more insight?
As far as I am concerned, and as far as I know, they do. For now, I am the chairman of the coordinating strategic committee of the presidential candidate and his running mate, and we are harmonising issues. Both leaders ran in 2023 on different platforms and had different blueprints, which we are now harmonising.
Their ideas appeared parallel before. Have they now been harmonised?
Never. I know where you are going, but never.
So, you are harmonising the differences?
We are harmonising some grey areas, and I am sure they will accept our recommendations.
Both of them?
Yes.
So, they are now on the same page?
They are close to each other every second, every minute, every hour, every day, every week, every month and every year of the calendar.
How will the ticket work across the country?
I don’t know whether you have done your homework. The belief is that Peter Obi will settle matters in the South-South, South-East, South-West and parts of the North-Central because of his strong showing in 2023. There is also a belief that some of you are working with the Kwankwasiyya Movement.
Will Kwankwaso consolidate the North while Obi expands into other regions?
We are running a single ticket of prominent, experienced, knowledgeable and entrenched Nigerians. This is our game. I can’t teach you broadcasting, just as no living human being today in Nigeria can talk to me about politics. Except Sule Lamido, there was nobody in the political terrain who held office in the Second Republic in a political party, S.I.M., and is still active. This is a single ticket for Nigeria. Obviously, when it comes to certain issues, Peter Obi may be more conversant with matters in Anambra than Kwankwaso, while Kwankwaso may be more conversant with certain issues in Kano than Peter Obi. They complement each other in every move. We are not going to run a divided government, with one belonging to Kwankwaso and another belonging to Peter Obi. No. We are running a Nigerian government. That is why we call this ticket a healing ticket for Nigeria.
Given your political experience, what will be different in 2027?
Hopefully, it will be different because they didn’t steal. But your recent political record does not show that those you supported won. I have an excellent record of integrity, honesty and intellect. You can’t rule that out. But you have not successfully supported anyone who won in recent elections. How many times? Didn’t I build Buhari from scratch to become president?
Isn’t that old glory?
Old glory? Didn’t Atiku win the election in 2019 and have it taken away from him?
Atiku won?
Yes. I have said several times on this platform that Atiku won that election. I can bet my life and swear by the Holy Quran that Atiku won that election.
But you don’t have evidence to prove it.
Not the man who bought it.
What, then, will be different in 2027?
It has been perfect, except for the Nigerian factor. I didn’t steal. I don’t have money. Your grandmother can take N20 to vote for somebody she has never seen. That is the Nigerian factor, not the candidate’s ability or what he can do.
What are the chances of your candidate winning in 2027?
There is no question of possibility. Peter Obi and Kwankwaso will win this election if it is free, fair and transparent, unless somebody decides to use the machinery of government to take it away from them.
Where do you expect each candidate to make the strongest gains?
One of the presidential candidates recently organised a national poll, and Peter Obi and Kwankwaso came out clearly leading in four of the six geopolitical zones: North-Central, South-East, South-South and South-West. Bola Tinubu came a distant third, with no zone accredited to him. But if you are doing the kind of politics we see in Nigeria, he may announce himself after meeting the INEC chairman and some prominent Nigerians in France. We don’t know what they are doing. He also assembled 600 professors in Kaduna to declare support for him. We consider that preparatory to what may be a fraud in this election. As a political party, we are saying that none of those 600 professors should be recruited to superintend over the elections because they have already taken sides by declaring support for a candidate.
How will your candidates appeal to voters, particularly in the North?
Now, you are a bona fide northerner, as I am, and I believe you went to school. If somebody comes and tells you, “I will restore subsidy,” don’t you need to look at his past and background before believing him? I thought you knew that the Vice President was chairman of the committee on privatising Nigerian enterprises when he was vice president. He sold public assets.
What do you make of the argument for subsidy removal and the different positions being taken?
Remove subsidy. Did he tell you how much he was going to bring the oil price down to? He said he would drop it.
Did he tell you the exact level?
He was projecting almost half, less than N1,000.
What is less than N1,000?
Nigerians don’t ask questions. You don’t think before you talk. If Atiku becomes president and says he is going to remove the subsidy, and petrol is selling now in my village for N1,650 per litre, and he removes N10 so that it sells for N1,640, didn’t he technically remove the subsidy? What is N10? He has never told you how he is going to do it.
Do you agree with the APC’s argument that Atiku’s position is uninformed?
No. The truth is that Obi and Kwankwaso are populist politicians who are for the people. We are saying that nobody should be paying what is called a subsidy. It was the mistake Tinubu made that put us in this trouble. We don’t even believe right now that there is any subsidy. We believe that people are stealing the commonwealth by sharing the money. Do you know that, even now, Bola Tinubu pays what is called “energy security expenses”? In 2023, he paid N5.1 trillion; in 2024, he paid N7.1 trillion. He should explain what energy security expenses mean. It is a subsidy called by another name. Our belief is that all of these are fraudulent. Within three months of being in government, we can reduce fuel prices to a certain level.
What level?
I am coming. Within six months, when we block all the loopholes, we will discover that there is no subsidy being paid to anybody. Before the Iran-American war, oil was selling for about N820. If the war ends, wouldn’t the price come back to N800 per litre? We are saying that when we investigate and catch people stealing our money through subsidies, it may even come down to less than N400.
Do you think the 2027 election will be free and fair?
If you are dealing with criminals and fraudsters like the ones we have, you can’t be sure of anything. Only God and Tinubu know what will happen in this election. But let me tell you, they are courting the wrath of Nigerians. Can’t you see what is happening? There have been coordinated attacks on opposition politicians. The other time, people were meeting in Enugu, and they went there and killed about seven or eight NDC people. Did you see what happened to Peter himself in Benue? Did you see what happened to the ADC governorship candidate in Kaduna? You people in the press have not been alerted. Have you not been seeing it on the news? We have been talking about it here. We should be doing more because these people don’t want anybody to breathe.
You believe Atiku won in 2019. What if the same narrative continues into 2027?
I say no.
What will happen?
Everything has an end. Do you know the people we are mobilising? Young people between 18 and 35. We are not talking about people like you.
So, you are targeting young people?
Of course. And they can say no when it is apparent to them that they have been cheated. They will not accept it.
Are you behind the ‘Tinubu Must Go’ campaign we see on social media?
Do I have to be one of them? Those people are doing it because they have no feeling for those who are suffering. They are not in Nigeria and don’t feel the pinch. If you are in our position, you will even say something beyond “Tinubu Must Go.” “Go” means he will simply take his legs and go. The ruling party says opposition figures are instigating and sponsoring young Nigerians against the government. When they want to arrest you, they can say anything against you. For example, does this government have the moral right to arrest somebody for corruption?
Why do you say so?
Because they are expending public money, allegedly spending public money without appropriation.
So, are you equipping young Nigerians ahead of 2027?
I am more intelligent than that. You can’t get me into that hook for them to pick me and dump me somewhere.
Are you afraid of being arrested?
You know that I was tried for treason. I was put underground. There is nothing I didn’t experience. Thirty-eight times, I was arrested, questioned, interrogated and jailed.
