Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf is reportedly on the verge of dumping the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), unless there is a last-minute change of plans. Sources familiar with the development said the governor is prepared to defect with or without the approval of his long-time political mentor, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. The move is said to have followed wide-ranging consultations with key stakeholders, including members of the Kano State House of Assembly, local government chairmen, and some federal lawmakers from the state. Momentum around the planned defection intensified on Sunday after a video circulated online showing Yusuf’s Director of Protocol, Abdullahi Ibrahim Rogo, announcing that political leaders in Rogo Local Government Area had agreed to follow the governor to the APC. Speaking alongside party officials, Rogo said influential figures within the Kwankwasiyya movement in the area had concluded that both Kwankwaso and Yusuf should move to the ruling party. “We at Rogo Local Government, under the leadership of Speaker Jibrin Ismail Falgore, myself, the council chairman, caucus leaders, elders, women and youth leaders, have resolved that Kwankwaso is our leader, and that he and Governor Yusuf should take us to APC,” Rogo said. “This resolution is in the best interest of our people, our country, and even Kwankwaso himself. We believe his presidential ambition can be realised in APC if we join now. We remain loyal to Kwankwasiyya, but for now, joining APC is the solution,” he added, while also calling on supporters to avoid abusive politics. Support for the planned switch also emerged from Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area. Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, Director-General of Media and Publicity at the Kano Government House, backed the decision of his local caucus to follow Yusuf to the APC. The LGA chairman, Anas Danmaliki, acknowledged internal divisions within the Kwankwasiyya movement, saying it had split into pro-masses and anti-masses factions, but maintained that he and his councillors would stand with the governor. According to sources, Yusuf is expected to formally announce his defection in the first week of January. Meanwhile, Senator Kwankwaso reportedly summoned members of the Kano State House of Assembly to a meeting last Friday, where he admitted that the governor was set to leave the NNPP. He reportedly told lawmakers that anyone who wished to follow Yusuf was free to do so, but questioned the justification for the move, reminding them that the party won the 2023 elections “with nobody but God.” Another source disclosed that when the lawmakers later met with Yusuf, he described his decision to join the APC as “irreversible.” Yusuf remains the only governor elected on the NNPP platform in the 2023 general elections.
