Kwankwaso Joins APC Party, Wears President Tinubu’s Signature Cap
On April 16, 2025, an X user, @Onsogu, claimed that the former governor of Kano state and Presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, in the 2023 general elections, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has joined the ranks of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
The post has an image of Kwankwaso wearing a cap with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s signature label and the caption, “Kwankasiya now with Tinubu’s unbroken chain cap. Welcome Home Sir!. Life is simple”.
As of the time of filing this report, the post has garnered 46,700 views, 106 comments and mentions, 139 retweets and quotes, 766 likes and impressions and 12 bookmarks. The post has gotten mixed reactions with many pointing out that it might be untrue. @KenEhi in the comment section wrote “AI is what you people are celebrating. You see why your head fold day by day, garri u no buy for enereh junction last time don dey affect your brain [sic]. Another user, @Akinboy said “This should be photoshop.”
VERIFICATION
The fact-checker took a closer look at the images and its examination reveals inconsistencies around the cap worn by Kwankwaso in the image posted by @Onsogu. Google reverse image search of the images in the post revealed that the original image was posted on the official Facebook page of the NNPP on November 8, 2022 in the build-up to the 2023 general elections.
A similar image was also posted on the X page of Hon. Saifullahi Hassan, the media aide to Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. Its caption reads; “The @OfficialNNPPng Presidential candidate, HE @KwankwasoRM, PhD, FNSE arrives (8th November, 2022) at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu State”.
The reverse image search that we conducted confirmed that the image was posted long before the recent claim made in April and that the picture had been tampered with. In the actual post made in 2022, Kwankwaso was seen wearing his original signature red cap, not the ‘unbroken chain’ cap associated with President Tinubu. Also, the people featured in the background in the November 2022 picture where he wore his signature red cap remain the same with similar expressions and gesticulations in the circulating image.
In a related development, a Chieftain of the NNPP, Buba Galadima, in a statement made available to the press in mid-April, has declared that Kwankwaso has no intention of joining the ruling All Progressive Congress. Also the NNPP National Publicity Secretary, Ladipo Johnson in an interview reiterated the same sentiment. This was also corroborated two weeks ago by the chairman of the NNPP in Kano State, Alhaji Hashimu Dungurawa.
CONCLUSION
The claim that Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso has joined President Bola Tinubu’s APC train and was spotted wearing Tinubu’s signature cap is FALSE. Search results revealed that there is no official statement from APC nor Kwankwaso to backup this claim. Further research affirmed that the picture used in the claim was from 2022 and it was edited by replacing Kwankwaso’s signature red cap with President Tinubu’s unbroken chain cap.
