ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The National Chairman of the Peoples Redemption Part (PRP), Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has dismissed allegations that the party sold 69 nomination forms in Kano State to the 2027 vice-presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Rabiu Kwankwaso, describing the claim as entirely false.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE Television on Tuesday, Baba-Ahmed said the report had no connection with the party’s activities and had already been debunked by the recognised PRP leadership in Kano.
“This is complete fiction. The real state chairman of the PRP in Kano had already stated, released a statement saying this is just complete bunkum,” he said.
The controversy followed allegations by a self-acclaimed PRP Chairman in Kano State, Abdulkadir Musa-Guza, who claimed that Kwankwaso or his associates purchased nomination forms for all 69 elective positions in the state as part of a plan to take control of the party ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Addressing journalists at the Nigeria Union of Journalists Press Centre in Kano, Musa-Guza alleged that the former Kano State governor was pursuing what he described as a mischievous agenda against the party despite not officially defecting to the PRP.
Responding to the allegation, Baba-Ahmed maintained that such a transaction could not have taken place because the party does not sell nomination forms at the state level.
“There is no way former Governor Kwankwaso could have bought 69 forms from the PRP in Kano. We don’t sell forms in Kano; we sell forms from Abuja.
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“The man who spoke and said they had sold 69 forms to Kwankwaso is not known to the party at all. He has no position; he has no authority to sell any forms. We don’t know him,” he said.
According to him, the allegation may be linked to local political manoeuvring in Kano.
“It is possible that this entire thing has been contrived as part of some problems or some politics in Kano. As far as the PRP is concerned, we sold forms, as we sell to everybody else from Abuja. We sold forms to candidates from Kano. They registered, they contested, they went through primaries more than a month ago.
“The candidates have emerged from there, and we are forwarding their names to INEC,” he added.
Baba-Ahmed further disclosed that he had spoken directly with Kwankwaso about the allegation and said the former governor was equally surprised by the report.
“I’ve spoken to Kwankwaso myself, and he is as amused as everybody else that he would buy 69 forms for non-existent candidates. He’s not a member of the party,” he said.
The PRP chairman also shed light on previous discussions involving Kwankwaso and the presidential candidate of the NDC, Peter Obi, regarding possible membership of the party.
According to him, both politicians engaged the party in talks but eventually decided against joining.
“They did come to our party. We spent some time discussing whether they could come into the party, whether they could join the party. In the end, they decided that there wasn’t enough evidence on the ground that their needs would be met by the party. And they moved on, and we parted as friends, and we’re still friends with them,” he said.
On reports suggesting divisions within the PRP, Baba-Ahmed rejected claims of factionalism and insisted the party remains united and stable.
“The PRP has no faction. We came through a very difficult, very demanding time where both from within and from outside there were efforts to cripple us.
“The failure by INEC to upload our names after our successful convention, observed by INEC, for more than a month caused us some problems. But we came through that. As I speak to you now, we’re a very healthy party.
“We’re looking forward to a very vigorous and very transparent competition. And we believe that our chances are very bright that the PRP will make a difference this time,” he said.