Gov Yusuf’s Defection ‘Irreversible’ Despite Kwankwaso’s Ultimatum – Source

The planned defection of Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, from the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is irreversible, a top state government source told LEADERSHIP yesterday.

This is despite a warning from the party’s national leader, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, that the governor must relinquish office if he leaves the party.

Kwankwaso, leader of the Kwankwasiyya Movement and former Kano State governor, had publicly urged Yusuf, his political protégé, to vacate the governorship should he defect from the NNPP, insisting that the mandate belonged to the party.

He also declared his openness to align with any political platform willing to present him as either presidential or vice-presidential candidate in future elections.

However, a highly placed source within the Government House told our correspondent that Governor Yusuf’s defection to the APC can no longer be reversed.

According to the source, the governor is expected to move with his political supporters across the state, including nine out of Kano’s 13 members of the House of Representatives, 20 out of the 27 members of the State House of Assembly — including the Speaker and all principal officers — as well as 42 of the 44 local government chairmen.

The source further disclosed that Kwankwaso’s resistance to joining the APC is linked to his inability to secure either the presidential or vice-presidential slot on the party’s platform, a position he reportedly reiterated recently at his Miller Road residence in Kano.

On the internal NNPP crisis, the source said Governor Yusuf has effectively taken control of the party’s structure in the state, following the suspension of the erstwhile state chairman, Hashim Dungurawa — a decision affirmed by the Kano State High Court.

This, the source added, puts the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) in contempt of court for dissolving the Kano State executive committees from ward to state levels despite the subsisting court order.

Efforts to obtain official reaction from the governor’s spokesperson, Sanusi Bature, were unsuccessful, as he has consistently declined media engagement since the crisis began.

Meanwhile, Kwankwaso, while addressing supporters in Kano, reiterated that the Kwankwasiyya Movement remains open to alliances but only on terms that guarantee him either the number one or number two position.

Political observers in Kano, however, view Governor Yusuf’s move not as betrayal, but as a strategic alignment with the federal government aimed at safeguarding political survival and securing greater benefits for the state.