Defection Not Betrayal, Shekarau Defends Governor Yusuf, Faults Kwankwaso’s Stance

Former Kano State governor, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, has dismissed claims that Governor Abba Yusuf would be guilty of betrayal should he defect from the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), insisting that political realignments are personal decisions shaped by prevailing circumstances and consultations with followers.

Shekarau, in an interview with an online platform, DCL Hausa, faulted recent remarks by the leader of the NNPP, Senator Rabi’u Kwankwaso, who suggested that Yusuf should relinquish his mandate if he leaves the party.

According to the former governor, such a position contradicts established political precedents, including actions previously taken by Kwankwaso himself while in office.

“I listened to some of my brother Kwankwaso’s remarks. To me, Kwankwaso has either forgotten what happened in the past or he thought people have forgotten,” Shekarau said.

He recalled that Kwankwaso defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) during his tenure as Kano State governor without vacating the governorship seat.

“When he was in PDP, he left with the governorship seat to APC. Why didn’t he drop it for PDP? The way he took PDP’s seat to APC is likely the same way Abba will take the NNPP seat to APC,” he added.

Shekarau argued that if such actions are now considered offensive, then the precedent had already been set long ago.

The former governor also revisited events surrounding the formation of the NNPP in Kano, attributing his eventual exit from the party to unresolved disagreements over power-sharing arrangements.

He said that after he and Kwankwaso left the APC for the NNPP, several meetings were held in Abuja and Kano to agree on the sharing of elective positions and appointments among stakeholders. A committee was subsequently constituted to work out the formula, with Governor Yusuf appointed chairman because he was to secure the governorship ticket.

“Abba spent about three months without delivering the assignment. Suddenly, a list came out and there was no single person from our side except me,” Shekarau said, adding that Kwankwaso openly queried the development in his presence.

According to him, the failure to resolve the matter led him and his supporters to set up a 30-man committee, which eventually recommended their exit from the NNPP.

“I rejected the arrangement because I could not take a senatorial ticket alone while my people got nothing,” he stated.

Shekarau maintained that political decisions, including defection, should not automatically be framed as betrayal, stressing that leaders often act after wide consultations and in what they consider the best interest of their followers.

“In life, one chooses for himself. If you have tangible reasons and the people you are with are okay with it, that is all,” he said.

He concluded that Governor Yusuf should be allowed to make his choice without being demonised, noting that Kwankwaso himself had defected severally — from the PDP to APC, back to PDP, and later to the NNPP.

“If Abba has his own reasons and those around him agree, I don’t see any betrayal here,” Shekarau added.