The Gubernatorial candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party ( NNPP)in Kaduna State, Senator Suleiman Othman Hunkuyi has predicted that the 2023 Presidential election may be a quit as it might be difficult for any of the political parties to win at the first ballot.
Speaking in an interview with journalists in Kaduna, Hunkuyi said “Shekarau came into the NNPP with many prominent people from Kano state. When Shekarau left, unfortunately for Shekarau and fortunately for NNPP, he left behind a lot of these key people in NNPP. The ledger of NNPP is on the rise. We lost Shekarau out, but in that transaction definitely, the NNPP is counting profit.
On the rumour that NNPP ‘s presidential candidate, Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso may be withdrawing for another candidate, he said “first of all, take it that I am not Kwankwaso, two, take it that I am not speaking Kwankwaso’s mind, neither am I capable of talking for Kwankwaso in that pedestal and on that matter, but I have a position.”
“It does not appear any party today in Nigeria, including NNPP may make it in the first election. There might have to be a runoff. Because the law requires some scores from the total votes cast minimum, in a required minimum number of states apart from simple majority scored. I feel no one party, no one candidate may be able to make it and that is why the laws of elections permit for a re-run.”
“So, for anyone to say because NNPP may not make it, which party then may make it? I’m talking from the background of the politics in Nigeria today. You see PDP and APC as the biggest of them all, but try to plot the graph, and when you do it, try to do it dispassionately. We have 36 states and to win an election, you need 25 per cent of votes in a minimum of 25 states. So, go ahead and count.”
“Nigeria is too big a polity, it is a big pot when boiling, you can never say, you can never tell, the polity is erratic. From where is APC going to gather what you are talking about? Count, look around. If you are talking about what the polity use to be before, it was just two parties, APC and PDP.”
“If you are casting 100 votes, then 25 per cent would mean 25 votes of the 100 votes. But now, you have the APC, PDP, NNPP, Labour Party and other smaller parties. Nobody can arrogate himself, if you take a hundred votes say in Lagos, yes, you can say maybe two parties may not get 25 per cent, maybe three parties may not get it and if you start going round, you will see that two, three parties may not likely get the 25 per cent in more than 10 states.”
“Come back to APC itself, go to the East, plot the graph, come back to the North, plot the graph. A politician leaves his window open because he talks to every citizen because every citizen is entitled to a vote. If there will likely be a run-off, the strongest may require the weakest, the weakest may do with the strongest or choose to do with the middle cadre.”
“It is a complex Arithmetic. Nobody will just close its own door and sit in his own house and become an island, not this polity, not this 2023 election. If Kwankwaso wants to win the election, he may have to fraternize whether he likes it or not.”
He said security issues would be given priority when he becomes Governor of Kaduna State as he would among others, recall all District Heads that were sacked because they were the eyes and ears of the government, the first reality point of the collection of intelligence.
