A former presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has accused some Northern leaders of undermining democracy and causing disharmony among the people by meddling in the political process.

The former Kano State Governor made this known during a recent interview with BBC Hausa.

Kwankwaso, the leader of the Kwankwasiyya Movement, accused some people he described as self-proclaimed northern stakeholders of interfering in the process of selection and fielding of candidates during presidential elections.

He said the trend has resulted in political parties fielding incompetent candidates during elections.

He urged the region's leaders to draw lessons from the experiences of the past elections and refrain from influencing the process of candidates' emergence.

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“This wicked practice they’re doing is causing discord among people. It is important to always have good intentions in whatever you do. It is unfortunate that these elders—some of whom are our parents—are being driven by selfish motives in fielding candidates.

“They often connive to fabricate falsehood, gather people and tell them that these are the candidates the region endorses when in reality the decision was taken by just two or three persons. Instead of going to Port Harcourt or Abuja to promote our interests (we who are their children), they rather follow the dictate of their selfish minds,” he said.

Kwankwaso cited the 2019 general elections where the North-West sub-region produced seven candidates, noting “We have all manner of people — former governors, former ministers, tall, short — but in the end, they did what suited them without considering our interests.”