Twenty-one members of the Kano State House of Assembly have defected from the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), signalling a major political realignment in the state.
The lawmakers announced their defection on Monday, shortly after Governor Abba Yusuf formally resigned from the NNPP following his recent visit to President Bola Tinubu at the State House in Abuja.
In his resignation letter addressed to the chairman of the Diso-Chiranchi ward in Gwale Local Government Area, Yusuf cited what he described as deepening internal crises and prolonged leadership disputes within the NNPP as reasons for his exit.
The governor’s defection was carried out alongside 21 state lawmakers, eight members of the House of Representatives, and all 44 local government chairmen in Kano State, underscoring the scale of the political shift.
Among the prominent defectors are the Speaker of the House, Jibril Ismail Falgore (Rogo), and the Deputy Speaker, Muhammad Bello Butu Butu (Tofa/Rimin Gado).
Other principal officers who left the NNPP include the Majority Leader, Lawan Hussain (Dala); Deputy Majority Leader, Garba Shehu Fammar (Kibiya); and the Chief Whip, Muddasir Ibrahim Zawachiki (Kumbotso).
Additional lawmakers who joined the APC are Zakariyya Abdullahi Nuhu (Gabasawa), Lawal Tini (Ajingi), Musa Tahir Haruna (Albasu), Ali Lawan Alhassan (Bagwai/Shanono), Ali Muhammad Tiga (Bebeji), Hafiz Gambo (Bunkure), and Rabiu Shuaibu (Dawakin Kudu).
Others include Tukur Mohammed (Fagge), Murtala Muhammad Kadage (Garko), Abdulmajid Isah Umar (Gwale), Ahmad Ibrahim (Karaye), Alhassan Zakari (Kura/Garun Malam), Suleiman Mukhtar Ishaq (Madobi), Abdulhamid Abdul (Minjibir), Muhammad Ibrahim (Rano), Kabiru Sule Dahiru (Tarauni), and Ali Abdullahi Manager (Wudil).
Reacting to the development, the national leader of the NNPP, Rabiu Kwankwaso, described the defection as a betrayal and declared January 23 as “World Betrayal Day.”
Kwankwaso played a central role in Yusuf’s emergence as Kano governor during the 2023 elections through the Kwankwasiyya political movement.
