Yusuf, 31 Lawmakers, 44 LG Chairs with Many Wearing Kwankwasiyya Caps Join APC, Ganduje, Barau Endorse Gov for 2027

• Deputy Governor absent, three commissioners resign 

•We’ve been vindicated by his defection, declare former NNPP leaders 

• Ardo: Governor made a mistake quitting

Chuks Okocha in Abuja and Ahmad Sorondinki in Kano

Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, alongside nine federal lawmakers, and 31 members of the House of Assembly, officially joined All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday at a gathering attended by high-ranking party officials.

The event was witnessed by prominent APC chieftains, including a former governor and erstwhile National Chairman of the party, Abdullahi Ganduje; Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin; Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Abdullahi Ata; and the state party chairman, Abdullahi Abbas.

Yusuf’s e-registration as APC member took place at Government House, Kano, barely three days after he announced his resignation from New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).

Although the deputy governor, Comrade Aminu Abdulsalam, and three commissioners were absent, Ganduje announced the endorsement of Yusuf as the sole governorship candidate of APC ahead of the 2027 general election.

Speaking shortly after flagging off the e-registration process, the governor said his decision to re-join APC was not motivated by personal ambition.

He stated, “My decision to join the APC is not driven by personal interest or political ambition. It is a deliberate step taken in the interest of unity, peace, stability, progress and sustainable development of Kano State.

“On this day, Monday 26th, 2026, I Abba Kabir Yusuf, your governor, happily announce that I have joined the All Progressive Congress (APC).”

He explained that it was in the general interest of the state to bring more benefits to the people of Kano by joining the ruling party.

The governor equally announced that he had accepted the proposal to establish an independent Elders Council of Kano, solely for the progress and development of the state without any political inclination.

In his address, Ganduje announced that all contenders for the governorship under APC had relinquished their ambitions for Yusuf.

“I want to formally announce to you that all the contenders of the governorship candidacy in Kano have relinquished their ambitions in support of your second term in office,” Ganduje told the governor.

Ganduje also declared that the loyalty of the members of the party in the state would henceforth be with him as the leader of APC in Kano.

He said, “We in APC have a policy and by this policy all governors are the leaders of the party in their states just as the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the leader of the party in the country. You are now the leader of the APC in Kano and our loyalty is to you and we will support you.”

Jibrin, hitherto identified as having a governorship ambition, relinquished the bid, stating at the rally, “When I say Abba Gida-Gida, you say 4+4.”

Meanwhile, three commissioners tendered their resignation. They included Commissioner for Sports and Youth Hevelopment, Mustapha Kwankwaso, the son of Yusuf’s political godfather, Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso; Commissioner for Internal Security, Air Vice Marshall Ibrahim Umar; and Commissioner for Special Duties, Nasiru Sule Garo.

All insignia of NNPP had since been replaced with those of APC at Kano Government House.

But the red cap, the symbol of the Kwankwasiyya movement of Rabiu Kwankwaso, remained.

We’ve Been Vindicated By Ab-ba Yusuf’s Defection, Declare Former NNPPLeaders

Former National Chairman of NNPP, Professor Rafai Alkali; former National Organising Secretary, Suliman Hunkuyi; and former National Legal Adviser, Professor Bem Angwe, yesterday, declared that they had been vindicated by Yusuf’s defection to APC.

A statement jointly signed by Alkali, Angwe, and Hunkuyi, said, “We have learnt,  loyalty is often praised, but foresight is rarely celebrated, until it is proven right.

“Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf’s decision to exit the NNPP and align with the APC has triggered predictable outrage, undiluted anger, and a crisis of denial among those who mistook noise for wisdom.

‘’Yet, stripped of all emotions and pretensions, the move was neither sudden nor surprising. It was not on-ly inevitable, but it was inevitably inevitable. As al-ways, in life, some decisions test character, others test courage, but Governor Kabir Yusuf’s move, tested both.

‘’For those of us who were privileged to have been witnesses to the long, uncertain and often chaotic sit-uations leading to the build-up to the 2023 elections, the implosion of the Kano faction of the NNPP was never a matter of if, but when.”

The statement added, “To all discerning minds and close watchers of the dynamics of politics, the warning signs were everywhere: a party built more on senti-ments than realities, on personalities  rather than in-stitutions, and on personal loyalty instead of legiti-mate organisational  discipline, will hardly escape from internal crisis and conflicts.

“Indeed, such fragile, artificial and ad hoc arrangements do not endure. Certainly, they do not last long; they expire and they explode – often with a big bang!”

They said Yusuf chose not to wait for the expiry date, because the expiry day was already very near.

The statement said, ‘’The unfolding crisis today is therefore, not just a fallout, it is a confirmation. Not surprisingly, critics have framed the decision as be-trayal. That is the lazy language of some selfish politi-cians.

“In truth, what we are witnessing is something unique and rare: a politician refusing to be trapped by a col-lapsing internal disorder, simply to satisfy the romantic expectations of mentors and political merchants.

“While others were busy managing and massaging egos and firefighting internal rebellions, the governor was reading the balance sheet of political reality. Un-fortunately, often times, reality is unforgiving.”

It said, ‘’Today, the very party Abba Yusuf left is en-gulfed in open conflicts – courtroom litigations, fac-tional declarations, and advertised confusion over par-ty legitimacy.

“This is not an external conspiracy; it is the natural consequence of unresolved contradictions, demanding serious attention, but were ignored for too long.

“The crisis did not begin with the governor’s exit. To the contrary, it was the political wind that blew open its pretentious cover.”

Ardo: Governor Made a Mistake Defecting

Former special adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo, Dr. Umar Ardo, insisted that Yusuf made a mistake with his defection because Kano State and its politics had always been in the opposition.

Ardo, who is also the convener of League of Northern Democrats, said, “The resignation of Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano State from the NNPP leading towards the 2027 general elections is a big mistake, if he even-tually joins the APC.

“The reason is simple – it will mean he does not understand the evolutionary history of Kano politics! If he had, he would have known that Kano politics has always essentially aligned with opposition politics, and never purposefully leaned toward the centre.

‘’The pattern of its politics since independence validates this assertion. In the Second Republic, while the North and the nation voted NPN, Kano still tilted towards the opposition and voted for the PRP.”

Ardo explained, ‘’Under the present dispensation as well in 1999, Kano rejected the perceived Conservative Party, the ANPP, and overwhelmingly voted the perceived liberal PDP.

‘’But when it turned out that PDP formed the national government as well, Kano promptly voted it out after only one term in 2003 and voted in the opposition party, the ANPP.”

He added, ‘’Then in 2015, along with other opposition parties, Kano joined the bandwagon and fused into the newly formed APC in opposition to the national government of the PDP.

‘’It remained in the APC for two terms under controversial circumstances but in 2023 moved back to its opposition stance by voting in a fringe opposition party, the NNPP.

“Even when the courts, at the tribunal and Court of Appeal levels, tried to move the state into the ruling national party, the APC, Kano electorate staunchly stood against the move and the Supreme Court, perceiving the danger fraught.’’

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