A chieftain of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Buba Galadima, has rejected allegations linking the party’s national leader, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, to terrorism financing and political bargaining ahead of the 2027 general election.
Galadima spoke during an interview on Arise Television on Thursday, February 12, 2026, where he addressed comments attributed to Chris Smith and recent media reports concerning Kwankwaso.
“The issue of Chris Smith. I learned of it through my son yesterday, around 10 o’clock. He sent me a clip. And later on, a lot of people started bombarding me with questions as to that Kwankwaso was a financier of terrorism, because according to him, he was the one that promulgated a Sharia law in Kano that have made blasphemy a capital offense. I think that is most unfair,” Galadima said.
He described the allegation as damaging to Kwankwaso’s reputation. “Most unfair to Kwankwaso, most unfair to his person, and most unfair to his integrity as a peaceful Nigerian,” he stated. Galadima linked the controversy to political developments ahead of the next general election.
“What we see is intrigues of election 2027. And you, my friends in Arise TV, are complicit in this, because either in 29th of December, is it January or 30th? Your sister organization, Thisday newspaper, published a story about Kwankwaso and said that Kwankwaso was putting an impossible demand on the APC, that he wanted 25 percent of all federal appointments, that he wanted to be VP to APC, or else he would not join,” he said.
He further alleged bias in subsequent media discussions. “And incidentally and surprisingly, Arise TV constituted a panel of three people, all anti-Kwankwaso, and found him guilty, disparaged his image, his integrity, and blackmailed him into saying that he’s selfish, he’s this, he’s that. That was most unfortunate coming from friends,” Galadima added.
He denied that Kwankwaso had held discussions with the All Progressives Congress (APC) regarding defection or merger talks. “I would have wanted to ask, did Kwankwaso ever, ever, apart from the Paris meeting of 2023 with President Bola Tinubu, ever met with anybody from the APC to discuss issues of either merger or defection? My answer is no,” he said.
Galadima challenged the media organizations to present evidence if available. “And if there is any evidence available to Arise TV or Thisday newspaper, who are my friends? Please, they should come up with that evidence and show the world. You are too a precious news platform that you should not be succumbing to blackmail by people who want to disparage the image of innocent Nigerians. Now, one thing led to the other,” he concluded.
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