Ahead of the 2027 general election, Nigeria’s former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has claimed he is more popular than the former Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, insisting the latter’s influence remains largely confined to Kano State.
He made the assertion on Wednesday evening while appearing as a guest on a programme on Arise TV.
According to Atiku, who is planning to contest the 2027 presidential election on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), apart from the fact that Kwankwaso’s popularity is limited to his state, it is now even divided.
“Kwankwaso’s popularity is restricted to only Kano State. Kano is even now split between him and Governor Abba Yusuf,” he added.
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Earlier during the interview, Atiku boasted that he remains the most popular politician of northern extraction.
The 2023 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate also assessed the influence of key northern politicians, including former governors Kwankwaso, Aminu Tambuwal, and Nasir El-Rufai, insisting no current or emerging leader in the region matches his political reach today.
He maintained that despite their popularity, none of them holds a voter base across the North as wide as his.
“Can you tell who is a current leader in the North who has more votes than I have? Talking of leaders like Tambuwal, Kwankwaso, El-Rufai, and also the emerging political leaders, none of them have got that northern vote as much as I’ve got,” Atiku said.