The National Chairman of the Peoples Redemption Party, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has refuted allegations that the party sold 69 nomination forms in Kano State to the vice-presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress for the 2027 elections, Rabiu Kwankwaso.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE Television on Tuesday, Baba-Ahmed described the allegation as false and entirely disconnected from the activities of the party.
“This is complete fiction. The real state chairman of the PRP in Kano had already released a statement saying this is just complete bunkum,” he said.
The controversy emerged after a self-proclaimed PRP chairman in Kano, Abdulkadir Musa-Guza, alleged that Kwankwaso or his associates had purchased nomination forms for all 69 elective positions in the state. According to Musa-Guza, the move was part of a strategy to gain control of the party’s structure ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Addressing journalists at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre in Kano, Musa-Guza accused the former Kano State governor of attempting to infiltrate the party despite not being an official member.
Responding to the claims, Baba-Ahmed insisted that such a transaction could not have taken place because the sale of nomination forms is handled exclusively at the party’s national headquarters in Abuja.
“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. 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 stated.
The PRP national chairman further suggested that the allegation may be rooted in local political disagreements within Kano State rather than any official party activity.
“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, contested, and went through primaries more than a month ago.
“The candidates have emerged, and we are forwarding their names to INEC,” he added.
Baba-Ahmed also disclosed that he had personally spoken with Kwankwaso regarding the matter and said the former governor was equally surprised by the claims.
“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.
On reports suggesting that Kwankwaso and NDC presidential candidate Peter Obi had explored the possibility of joining the PRP, Baba-Ahmed confirmed that discussions were held but ultimately did not lead to any political alliance.
“They did come to our party. We spent some time discussing whether they could come into the party and whether they could join the party. In the end, they decided there wasn’t enough evidence on the ground that their needs would be met by the party. They moved on, and we parted as friends. We’re still friends with them,” he said.
