53 Days To Election: Kwankwaso Sustains Unique Campaign Style In Bid To Become President

For now, the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has sustained a campaign strategy largely different from those of the three other leading contenders– Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, Bola Tinubu of the All Progressive Congress, and Peter Obi of the Labour party.

Nigeria is 53 days away from its Presidential and National Assembly elections on 25th February 2023 with Section 95 (1) of the Electoral Act 2022 mandating candidates and political parties, to “campaign for the elections in accordance with such rules and regulations as may be determined by the Commission (Independent National Electoral Commission).”

INEC’s guidelines for the conduct of Political Campaigns, Rallies and Processions threw open the manner in which political parties can create awareness about their manifestoes and this apparently is why candidates have adopted several means to sell their candidacy ahead of the polls.

According to the Commission, “Political campaigns shall include, though not limited to, print and electronic media advertisement by public and private media organizations, internet advertising, house-to-house calls on voters, marches, gatherings, receptions, fundraising, courtesy calls, public displays of party flags, entertainment, posters, handbills or billboards in public places such as markets, schools, streets, highways, air-display, audiovisuals, painted vehicles, use of public address system in vehicles, fences of aspirants, candidates, supporters, party officials, private houses, as well as internet and social media networks.”

While the candidates of the LP, APC, and PDP have used open fields and stadiums for campaigns in addition to other strategies, Kwankwaso’s NNPP has not gone the way of others as of the time of this report.

His campaign style (aside from addressing the press and attending meetings like others) has been to commission NNPP party offices and secretariats in several states in the North and South.

Although his aides could be seen engaging in grassroots mobilization, especially in the north, Kwankwaso has used the opening of party secretariats to draw crowds and sensitize them as well.

As gathered from his Twitter page and the social media accounts of his spokesperson, Abdulmumin Jibrin, so far, he has visited Kaduna(July 23), Ilorin Kwara (July 28), Nassarawa (August 20), Bauchi (August 24), Borno (August 27), Kogi(September 1), Benue, (September 3), Adamawa (September 11), Niger state (September 14), for the purpose of commissioning party offices.

Other states he has visited for the same purpose, include Delta (September 17,18), Katsina (September 25), Plateau (September 30), Akwa Ibom (October 6), Lagos (October 12), Enugu (November 8), Ebonyi (November 9), Cross Rivers (November 10), Yobe (November 18), Ogun (December 8), Osun (December 10), Ekiti (December 10), and Jigawa (December 24).

He has also attended NNPP gubernatorial campaign rallies in Nasarawa and Kano states.

Although a number of polls like the NOI/ANAP Foundation polls put Kwankwaso as the fourth contender (with 2% percent) trailing Atiku (10%), Tinubu (13%) and Obi (23%), the NNPP candidate has urged Nigerians to vote for him in the coming elections.

His words during his new year message on January 1 reads in part, “It is also a good chance for me as the candidate of the NNPP, to appeal to all Nigerians to vote for the party because voting for us is voting for capacity, integrity and new Nigeria.”

His style of campaign could be due to a lack of financial resources to prosecute a full campaign as being done by the major parties.

In October 14, 2022, a chieftain of the NNPP), Buba Galadima, admitted that the party’s presidential candidate is doing much with available funds.

“Having said that, it is important to say that one of the things we were accused of is that our base is only Kano (and) I said I agree. But the other thing is that they campaign that Senator Rabiu Musa kwankwaso does not have money to run a presidential election.

“Take it that it is true, yes, because he has not stolen public funds or converted public funds for his own use. But we have been moving across the country. We are the only political party that is moving from state to state, opening our offices. We are not using water to fuel our cars. We are not going on foot sometimes we use aircraft. We have not asked for one Kobo, from any individual so far,” Galadima said.