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), marking a major political realignment in the state.
The lawmakers announced their decision on Monday, coming shortly after Governor Abba Yusuf formally resigned from the NNPP following his recent visit to President Bola Tinubu at the State House in Abuja.
In his resignation letter to the chairman of the Diso-Chiranchi ward in Gwale Local Government Area, Yusuf blamed his exit on what he described as “deepening internal crises” and “prolonged leadership disputes” within 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.
Key figures among the defectors include the Speaker of the House, Jibril Ismail Falgore (Rogo), and the Deputy Speaker, Muhammad Bello Butu Butu (Tofa/Rimin Gado).
Also leaving the NNPP are the Majority Leader, Lawan Hussain (Dala); Deputy Majority Leader, Garba Shehu Fammar (Kibiya); and the Chief Whip, Muddasir Ibrahim Zawachiki (Kumbotso).
Other lawmakers who joined the APC include 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).
The list also features 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 Governor Yusuf’s defection, the national leader of the NNPP, Rabiu Kwankwaso, described the development as a betrayal and declared January 23 as “World Betrayal Day”.
Kwankwaso was instrumental in Yusuf’s emergence as Kano governor in the 2023 election through the Kwankwasiyya political movement.
The post After governor’s exit, 21 Kano lawmakers follow Abba Yusuf to APC appeared first on Vanguard News.
