Calm prevailed in Kano State yesterday, accompanied by heightened security, following Governor Abba Yusuf’s defection from the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
No official statement was issued by the governor, his aides, or the state government regarding the development, and a formal ceremony originally scheduled to mark the defection did not take place.
Yusuf was absent from the Government House, where The Nation observed political aides removing the NNPP flag at the main entrance and replacing it with the Nigerian Green-White-Green national flag. The NNPP flag at the Deputy Governor’s Office was also taken down.
Several aides were seen wearing caps featuring President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s iconic freedom cap, which first appeared at the premises during a function last Sunday attended by Governor Yusuf and his executive council.
Many junior staff members, previously known to wear the Kwankwasiyya cap, were seen without it while discussing in small groups.
An executive council member, speaking anonymously, told The Nation that the governor skipped the ceremony to prevent possible violence. “We are no longer in NNPP. The crucial step of moving to APC has been completed; other processes are still ongoing,” he said.
Sources indicated that Yusuf plans to travel abroad soon with his key stakeholders to brief President Tinubu on the defection.
Another government official disclosed that the governor moved with all the state’s council chairmen and all NNPP members of the House of Assembly.
Governor Yusuf, who won the 2023 election under the NNPP platform, has had public disagreements for months with Musa Kwankwaso, regarded as the party’s leader. His decision to defect is reportedly linked to unresolved leadership disputes and multiple court cases within the NNPP.
Kwankwaso, a former governor of Kano State, has strongly criticized Yusuf’s move, insisting that the governor should resign from office if he intends to leave the party.
