21 Kano Lawmakers dump NNPP, follow Gov Yusuf to APC

Twenty-one members of the Kano State House of Assembly have defected from the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), in what appears to be a major political realignment in the state.

The lawmakers announced their defection on Monday, coming shortly after Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf formally resigned his membership of the NNPP.

Governor Yusuf, in a resignation letter addressed to the chairman of the NNPP in Diso-Chiranchi Ward, Gwale Local Government Area, cited deepening internal crises and unresolved leadership disputes as reasons for his exit from the party.

The governor’s defection was carried out alongside the 21 state lawmakers, eight members of the House of Representatives and all 44 local government chairmen across Kano State.

Among the prominent figures who moved to the APC are the Speaker of the House, Jibril Ismail Falgore (Rogo), and the Deputy Speaker, Muhammad Bello Butu Butu (Tofa/Rimin Gado).

Others include the Majority Leader, Lawan Hussain (Dala); Deputy Majority Leader, Garba Shehu Fammar (Kibiya); and the Chief Whip, Muddasir Ibrahim Zawachiki (Kumbotso).

Also listed among the defectors are Zakariyya Abdullahi Nuhu (Gabasawa), Lawal Tini (Ajingi), Musa Tahir Haruna (Albasu), Ali Lawan Alhassan (Bagwai/Shanono), Ali Muhammad Tiga (Bebeji), Hafiz Gambo (Bunkure), and Rabiu Shuaibu (Dawakin Kudu).

Other lawmakers who left the NNPP include Tukur Mohammed (Fagge), Murtala Muhammad Kadage (Garko), Abdulmajid Isah Umar (Gwale), Ahmad Ibrahim (Karaye), Alhassan Zakari (Kura/Garun Malam), Suleiman Mukhtar Ishaq (Madobi), Abdulhamid Abdul (Minjibir), Muhammad Ibrahim (Rano), Kabiru Sule Dahiru (Tarauni), and Ali Abdullahi Manager (Wudil).

Reacting to the development, the national leader of the NNPP, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, described the defections as an act of betrayal, declaring January 23 as “World Betrayal Day.”

Kwankwaso played a pivotal role in Governor Yusuf’s emergence as Kano State governor in the 2023 general election under the Kwankwasiyya political movement.