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Due to the mystery surrounding the move, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf’s anticipated defection from the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has become one of Kano’s most talked-about political mysteries.

The defection, which was originally scheduled for the first week of January 2026, has been rescheduled for January 12, 2026, according to ZINGTIE.

Despite warnings from Rabiu Kwankwaso, the NNPP’s 2023 presidential candidate and his political godfather, the governor continued to meet with members of the National Assembly, state legislators, and prominent members of the ruling party, causing the much-anticipated event to once again come to a standstill.

However, the schism within the NNPP and the governor’s strict demands from his potential new party have been blamed for the delay.

Governor Yusuf’s stringent demands

The governor has demanded an automatic ticket for the 2027 election as a requirement to join the ruling party, an insider with knowledge of the current political events in Kano State told ZINGTIE.

The request has been put on hold until President Bola Tinubu returns from his overseas trip since the top leadership of the ruling party has reportedly been unable to approve it.

“The governor does not want to blindly join the APC and then later have people like the former national chairman of APC, Abdullahi Ganduje coming up with their own anointed candidate.

“You know that immediately he joins the party, he will stop enjoying the support he gets from His Excellency Rabiu Kwankwaso so if he doesn’t have the support of people like Ganduje or Kwankwaso, 2027 is going to be very tough for him.

“But if Kwankwaso had agreed to also follow the governor to APC, the whole thing would have been easier for the governor but Kwankwaso himself is not ready to move to APC, at least not yet.

“Now that Mr President is back to Nigeria, things will become clearer in the coming days, hopefully, the governor’s request will be granted but mind you, he is not the only governor seeking re-election”, he said.

Division in the NNPP

There was a cold war among the party’s leadership prior to the governor’s decision to abandon the political platforms that were thought to be expanding the quickest in the nation.

The governor reportedly decided to change his allegiance to the ruling party as a result of internal strife.

The controversial alteration of the party’s logo, in which the Kwankwaso-led side substituted a book and graduation cap for the fruit basket, is said to have started the issue.

However, the governor’s team insisted on keeping the old emblem.

According to ZINGTIE, the development led to legal disputes that have since plunged the party into uncertainty and exacerbated internal division.

The deputy governor, Comrade Aminu Abdussalam Gwarzo, certain members of the state cabinet, and the Speaker of the Kano State House of Assembly, Hon. Jibril Ismail Falgore, all support Kwankwaso.

NNPP former chairman: “Remain in our party, no clear road in APC.”

Hashimu Dungurawa, the immediate past chairman of the NNPP in Kano State, encouraged the governor to abandon his intended defection in an exclusive interview with DAILY POST on Sunday.

Dungurawa noted that although Governor Yusuf’s reelection under the NNPP is certain, his future is uncertain if he switches to the APC.

He said, “It is still my prayer that the governor doesn’t leave our party because leaving the party will cause a lot of vacuum that will be difficult to fill.

“Staying with NNPP will help him because where he is going is a camp of his enemies.

“We are here supporting him in the NNPP, nobody is fighting him and there is nobody that is not wishing him well.

“If he remains in our party, he will automatically return as governor for his second term. There is no clear road in where he is going so the best thing for him is to remain with us.

“Definitely, we will all work for his victory in 2027 if he remains in our party. I don’t see any reason why he should be jumping to another when he is comfortable where he is.

“In 2027, NNPP is going to defeat the so-called APC and PDP in Kano State”.

There is pressure on Governor Yusuf to stay in the NNPP.

The Kwankwassiyya Movement, a group of Kwankwaso’s followers, has put tremendous pressure on the governor to break his affiliation with the APC.

This comes with the threat that if the governor disregards the warnings, he will be questioned in 2027.

It was said that when the governor formally joins the APC, Hon. Mustapha Kwankwaso, the first son of the NNPP leader, and other Yusuf cabinet members who support Kwankwaso will resign from their positions right away.

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