Politics
Kwankwaso’s NNPP turns new bride in Kano as mass defection hits APC
The New Nigeria Peoples Party has risen in great ranks in Kano State as it continues to gain membership of those who left the All Progressives Congress in anger
Political events, like the presidential and governorship elections, in Kano State, always generate interest among Nigerians because of the state’s political significance in the North-West region of the country. Kano, Lagos, Kaduna, Katsina, Rivers and other states alike have high voting populations, which parties scramble to woo.
In Kano State now, none of the two major political parties – the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party- knows its fate as the New Nigeria Peoples Party has suddenly become the new bride of politicians in the state.
Fortunes smiled on the NNPP when a crisis hit the APC following the alleged marginalisation of some members, whose anger eventually made them dump the ruling party (APC) for the new party led by a former Governor of the state, Rabiu Kwankwaso.
The crisis led to the formation of two factions in the party after conducting parallel congresses for the officials at the ward, local government and state levels.
While one of the factions was loyal to the state Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, the other was led by a former Governor of the state and now a Senator representing Kano Central Senatorial District, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau.
The battle for the control of the party in the state prompted the two factions to go to court for each of them to be recognised as the authentic APC in the state.
The Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja, in November last year, handed over the control of the party in the state to the Shekarau’s faction after nullifying the congresses held by the Ganduje’s faction.
The incumbent governor’s faction later challenged the ruling at the Court of Appeal and the appellate court in a judgement, in February, set aside the lower court’s ruling which recognised the Shekarau’s faction as the authentic APC in the state.
However, dissatisfied with the ruling, the ex-governor, Shekarau’s faction, approached the Supreme Court to resolve the matter. In a ruling delivered on May 6, 2022, the apex court upheld the appeal court’s ruling and handed over the control of the APC to Ganduje’s faction.
The panel held that the appeal against the earlier judgements of the Court of Appeal in Abuja lacked merit and was therefore dismissed.
After the Supreme Court judgment, the factional Chairman of the APC under Shekarau, Haruna Danzago, dragged his counterpart and leader of the Ganduje’s faction, Abdullahi Abbas to the State High Court challenging his eligibility to be the chairman of the party in the state. The case is still pending in court.
Although there were concerted efforts to ensure an amicable resolution of the APC crisis in the state from various quarters including the party’s national headquarters and the Presidency, all the efforts hit the rock. The Presidency was said to have even invited Ganduje and Shekarau to the Villa in Abuja where a meeting was held as part of efforts to resolve the crisis but failed.
Unfortunately, all efforts to resolve the lingering crisis seemed to have failed as that did not prevent many prominent and influential members of the party in the state from leaving.
The Kano APC bigwigs that defected to the NNPP include Shekarau; a member representing Rano/Bunkure/Kibiya Federal Constituency, Alhassan Rurum; a member representing Takai/Sumaila Federal Constituency, Shamsudden Dambazau and the former member representing Kiru/Bebeji and a former Executive Director of the Federal Housing Authority, Jibrin Abdulmumini Kofa.
Others are former presidential liaison officer to the House of Reps, Abdulrahman Sumaila; former speaker of the House of Assembly, Kabiru Rurum; Deputy Speaker, Alhaji Zubairu Massu and a member representing Bagwai/Shanono at the State House of Assembly, Ibrahim Shanono.
Other notable politicians that left the party include the Chief of Staff to the Kano State Governor, Ali Makoda, and two House of Representatives members from the state, Tijjani Jobe and Badamasi Ayuba; the APC state auditor, Ahmed Muhammadu; Umar Mai Tsidau, the APC Youth leader and former Chairman of the Makoda Local Government; Halliru Maigari, a former member of the House of Assembly representing Rimingado/Tofa; and Hafizu Sani Maidaji, a former member of the state House of Assembly representing Dambatta.
Giving reasons for their defection, one of the defectors and former Kano Governor, Shekarau, said the lack of inclusiveness forced him out of the party, as elders of the party were not consulted before taking any decision.
“It’s not about me or that I want to return to the senate. This is far away from the issues; it’s about the involvement of the people. I told them when it started that there was no inclusiveness in the party affairs.
“Some people stayed somewhere and wrote about a 480-page party document without a single input from any of the elders of the party. The idea of our protest was to go together and allow people to participate in the process. If it is allocation, then allocate equitably,” Shekarau said.
Also speaking on why he dumped the APC and joined the NNPP, Abdulmumin Jibrin, the ex-lawmaker stated that his political life had been miserable in the last seven years due to the overbearing nature of the party’s leaders in his home state.
In his reasons for leaving the party, the member representing Takai/Sumaila Federal Constituency, Dambazau, said the recent and unfortunate developments within the party made it almost impossible for him to continue participating and making productive contributions to the advantage of the party and the people of his constituency.
However, reacting to the defection, Ganduje while speaking in an interview on a TVC programme, said despite the mass defection, the APC was still in the best position to win elections as it still had the strength in the state.
“Despite the recent mass defection suffered by the party, the APC remains the party to beat. It will hold the ace in the 2023 elections in the state,” Ganduje said.
However, in his argument, a senior lecturer with the Department of Political Science, Bayero University, Kano, Professor Habu Fagge, said the recent mass exodus of some politicians from the APC to the NNPP was posing a great danger to not only the APC but also to the PDP.
“With the resuscitation of the NNPP, it has now overshadowed the APC and the PDP in the state. So, the contest in the state will now be between the APC and the NNPP because the NNPP has support in the horizontal and vertical directions. Thus, the NNPP will be a hard nut to crack.
“People are predicting that if care is not taken, the NNPP may overshadow the two prominent political parties, the APC and PDP because the worry is about the intensity of the defection,” he said.
Another analyst and ardent supporter of the APC, Umar Namadi said the mass cross carpeting of APC stalwarts to Senator Kwankwaso’s resuscitated NNPP was undoubtedly giving sleepless night prominent APC members in the state.
PUNCH
Aggrieved aspirants in Taraba, Kano, Jigawa, Anambra, Benue, Kogi, Kaduna, Ebonyi, Rivers and Plateau states are mobilising petitions and posapc-screening-crisis-deepens-ahead-of-2027-primariessible legal challenges over the outcome of the party’s screening exercises.
The screening process, designed to prune the number of aspirants ahead of party primaries, has generated controversy in multiple states, with several disqualified hopefuls preparing to seek redress through appeal committees.
In some states, protests have already erupted, while party stakeholders warned that attempts to impose candidates could trigger defections, anti-party activities and deepen internal divisions ahead of the primaries.
Taraba: Backlash Over Senator Lau’s Endorsement
In Taraba State, the endorsement of Senator Shuaibu Isa Lau reportedly backed by party stakeholders after the screening exercise, sparked fierce backlash, especially in Taraba North Senatorial District.
Stakeholders and youth groups rejected the endorsement, accusing the senator of poor performance.
A stakeholder from Karim Lamido LGA, Paul Penuel, described the senator’s tenure as “a complete failure,” insisting there was no record of impactful projects or measurable achievements to justify another term.
Another constituent, Dickson Kwinde, warned that repeating what he termed a “costly political mistake” could alienate voters.
Similarly, the Coalition of Concerned Youths and Voice of the Proletariat in Karim Lamido also rejected the endorsement.
Party sources disclosed that some aggrieved aspirants had begun preparing petitions alleging procedural irregularities, manipulation by political godfathers and attempts to impose consensus candidates without proper consultation.
Kano: Consensus Deal Sparks Protest
In Kano State, over 20 aspirants seeking Senate, House of Representatives and State Assembly tickets were reportedly screened out despite earlier consensus arrangements.
Among those affected were former Head of Service, Usman Bala; former lawmaker, Sha’aban Sharada; Muhammad Zango; Danyaro Yakasai; Abbas Abbas; Shehu Driver and Abdulkarim Abdulsalam Zaura in the Kano Central Senatorial contest.
However, APC Publicity Secretary Auwal Soja confirmed that six aspirants eventually stepped down for former Governor Ibrahim Shekarau after a reconciliation meeting.
Despite the arrangement, protests persisted, with a group known as Coalition for Better Kano faulting Shekarau’s endorsement and warning against sacrificing loyalty for political expediency.
Efforts by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf to reconcile aggrieved aspirants reportedly suffered setbacks after key stakeholders boycotted the peace meeting.
Jigawa: Disqualification Triggers Defection
In Jigawa State, the fallout from the screening exercise resulted in resignation and defection.
Former Speaker of the Jigawa State House of Assembly, Isah Idris, resigned from the APC after he was disqualified and replaced by another aspirant.
In his resignation letter, Idris lamented what he described as the party’s departure from its founding principles before defecting to the Peoples Democratic Party.
Another former Speaker, Idris Garba, and serving lawmaker Abubakar Sadiq were also edged out, heightening fears of deeper cracks within the state chapter.
Benue: Zoning Dispute Emerges
In Benue State, about 40 aspirants were reportedly disqualified during the screening of House of Assembly hopefuls in Makurdi.
The disqualifications generated anger among supporters who accused the party of violating zoning arrangements and excluding certain blocs from representation.
Supporters warned that failure to address the grievances could hurt the party electorally during the general elections.
Kogi: Aspirants Allege “Commando Arrangement”
In Kogi State, protests and accusations of authoritarianism followed allegations that nomination forms were selectively distributed to preferred aspirants under what critics described as a “Commando arrangement.”
A party chieftain, Chief Femi Olugbemi, accused the state leadership of abandoning democratic principles and sidelining aspirants with strong grassroots support.
The controversy has fuelled fears of mass defections and legal disputes within the state chapter.
Anambra: APC Expels 30 Members
In Anambra State, the APC expelled 30 members, including Senate and House of Representatives aspirants, for instituting legal action against the party.
The state Publicity Secretary, Valentine Iyiegbu, said the expulsions were in line with the party constitution.
According to him, the affected members could only be reconsidered if they withdrew their court cases against the party.
Kaduna: Consensus Crisis Intensifies
In Kaduna State, controversy erupted over moves to impose consensus candidates for National Assembly positions, despite peaceful House of Assembly screening exercises.
The crisis is particularly intense in Kaduna Central Senatorial District, where former lawmaker and activist Shehu Sani is reportedly being favoured as a consensus candidate.
The arrangement has been rejected by former Speaker Yusuf Ibrahim Zailani and activist Yarima Shettima, who warned against political manipulation and backroom deals.
Ebonyi: Aspirant Resigns Over Consensus Arrangement
In Ebonyi State, disqualified candidates also expressed dissatisfaction with the process.
An aspirant for Ebonyi Central Senatorial District, Chief Christian Nwali, resigned from the APC in protest after losing out in the consensus arrangement adopted by the state chapter.
Nwali, an ally of Works Minister David Umahi, announced his resignation with immediate effect.
Rivers: 65 Aspirants Disqualified
In Rivers State, no fewer than 65 aspirants were disqualified by the APC House of Assembly Screening Appeal Committee.
The committee chairman, human rights lawyer Abdul Mahmud, disclosed that only 33 aspirants were cleared ahead of the primaries.
Mahmud revealed that the panel had already received multiple petitions from aggrieved aspirants, many of whom complained that their disqualification was only discovered through social media posts rather than official communication from the party.
He advised the party to improve its communication process in future exercises.
Plateau APC Braces for Fallout
In Plateau State, the APC is reportedly preparing for possible fallout following reports that several House of Assembly aspirants were screened out ahead of the official release of results.
Party insiders fear that unresolved grievances could trigger further divisions within the state chapter ahead of the primaries.
By Okey Maduforo Awka
The former member that represented Anambra East and West Federal Constituency Chief Chinedu Obidigwe has denied a social media handle where he was said to have made Prof Charles Soludo the Governor of Anambra state.
Obidigwe further stated that the report did neither emanate from him or from his Media Aides urging the party not to believe what he called attempt at setting a negative agenda in the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
Obidigwe who is an Aspirant of the party for the Anambra East and West Federal Constituency accused enemies of the party being sponsored by opposition parties to creat problems .
According to the Media Assistant to Obidigwe Mr Dominic Okagbue in a statement;
“The attention of Hon. Chinedu Benjamin Obidigwe has been drawn to misleading and unfounded claims/propaganda being circulated on various social media platforms through a pseudo account, alleging that Obidigwe said he installed the Governor of Anambra State, Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo, CFR, as Governor in 2021”
“We wish to state, without any iota of equivocation, that such a statement never emanated from Hon. Chinedu Obidigwe. It is a desperate move by his political enemies who are bent on tarnishing his image as a tool and technique to advance their unmerited aspirations”
“Obidigwe, in 2021, was merely an electorate with just one vote. Even though he voted for the Governor and APGA, the question remains: can one man’s vote make a Governor?”
“Governor Soludo was elected and made Governor through the collective votes of Ndi Anambra, both in his first and second terms. We therefore call on the reading public to disregard such rumours and treat them as faceless and unfounded allegations geared towards the character assassination of an innocent man” he said.
A former Kano State Governor and leader of the Kwankwasiyya Movement, Rabiu Kwankwaso, says northern political leaders conducted a deliberate assessment of potential allies before settling on Peter Obi as the most capable partner to prosecute the 2027 presidential campaign.
He dismissed concerns about a hidden power struggle between his camp and Obi’s.Politics
Kwankwaso made the disclosure in an interview on Arise TV on Monday, offering one of his most detailed accounts yet of how the North-Southeast political alliance within the NDC was formed.
“I looked around together with our leadership in the north to say, okay, who do we think is capable? Who can come and work together with us honestly so that we can move this country? Along the line, we realised that Peter Obi is at the forefront of it. That’s why we all accepted to work together,” he said.Political candidate profile
Kwankwaso, a two-term former governor of Kano State and the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party in 2023, leads the Kwankwasiyya movement, a grassroots political force with deep loyalty across Kano and parts of northern Nigeria.Nigeria travel guide
He left the NNPP amid internal disputes before joining the NDC alongside Obi earlier this month.
Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, ran on the Labour Party platform in 2023 and drew massive youth-driven support across the South and urban centres, though he did not win.
Both men formally joined the NDC on Sunday, May 3, defecting from the crisis-hit African Democratic Congress.Politics
At the party’s national convention on Saturday in Abuja, Kwankwaso backed the NDC’s decision to zone its 2027 presidential ticket to the South, describing it as a step toward fairness, healing and national cohesion.
Responding to a question about whether the alliance concealed a quiet rivalry between both camps, Kwankwaso argued that friction between principals and their deputies was a product of greed, not structural tension.
“The problem people are having, especially leaders, is that they are too greedy to the extent that they begin to have issues. There is so much to do. You don’t have to fight your deputy,” he said.
He said his record as a former deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, and later as governor of Kano State, showed that political partnerships could hold under pressure.
“I had an opportunity to work with my speaker and we worked very well. I was in Kano for eight years despite the difficulty of my then deputy governor. We were able to work for eight years amicably to the extent that I handed over to him,” he said.
Kwankwaso extended the argument beyond his personal experience, saying the same principle applied at the federal level.
In the Senate and other places, in the NDDC, we worked amicably with people. There is so much to be done and that’s why you have even ministers, other executives, advisors and so on. I don’t see from my experiences of the past why deputies or vice would fight with the president or governor,” he said.
He grounded the alliance in Nigerian political history, tracing a lineage of productive North-Southeast partnerships from the first republic to the present.Nigeria travel guide
“Right from the beginning, this sort of alliance has been in existence. Now we are going back to what Tafawa Balewa did during their time,” he said.
He also referenced the collaboration between former Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa and leaders of the NCNC, as well as that of former President Shehu Shagari and his vice president, Alex Ekwueme, in the second republic.
“So also in the second republic, immediately after the war, our leaders, Shagari and others, worked very closely with the southeast, with Alex Ekwueme as his vice president. They are our friends. We want to work together with them,” he said.Politics
Kwankwaso also noted that subsequent administrations had shifted power-sharing away from the South-East, a pattern he suggested the current alliance was correcting.
“There was a change during the third republic where for many obvious reasons an election was annulled and the government under the military decided to bring in Shonekan from the South-West.
Even after that, the military and other leaders worked together and brought in Chief Olusegun Obasanjo from the South-West again. Even Bola Tinubu probably is a beneficiary of all that,” he said.
He was emphatic that the choice of Obi was not driven by regional sentiment alone.
“It wasn’t just because we are going to the South-West just because of the South-West. No. We realised that Peter Obi is at the forefront of it and that’s why we all accepted to work together,” he said.Political candidate profile
The movement of both men into the NDC has triggered a wave of defections, with senators, House of Representatives members and political blocs aligned with their former coalition gravitating toward the new party, rapidly reshaping calculations ahead of the 2027 elections.
The alliance pairs Kwankwaso’s northern grassroots structure and disciplined voter mobilisation with Obi’s national youth engagement and urban electoral momentum, positioning the NDC as one of the main opposition platforms set to challenge President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress in 2027
Former Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso has dismissed suggestions that his exit from the African Democratic Congress has created a damaging split in the opposition.
He said he and Atiku Abubakar may yet work together before the 2027 general election.
Kwankwaso spoke in an interview on Arise TV on Monday, responding to concerns that his move to the Nigeria Democratic Congress alongside Peter Obi had effectively divided the opposition into two competing blocs ahead of the polls.
“Now, we may still work together before the election. I personally, and I think even Obi himself, decided to leave ADC not because we are fighting with Atiku or anybody there. We decided to leave that party because we realised that there are some issues,” he said
He said the ADC was contending with three major unresolved problems that he believed would make it difficult for the party to field candidates, without specifying what those issues were.
“Whether they will be able to field candidates in that party or not is just a matter of time. It’s not like we had a primary election,” he said
The remarks come after Atiku recently claimed on Arise TV that Kwankwaso’s popularity was confined to Kano State and further divided there by Governor Abba Yusuf.
Atiku, who is seeking the presidency on the ADC platform, also described himself as the most popular politician of northern extraction, saying none of his contemporaries, including Kwankwaso, Aminu Tambuwal and Nasir El-Rufai, commanded a voter base across the North as wide as his.
Kwankwaso did not engage the slight directly, but made clear he bore no grudge.
“Politics is just like a game. I’m not fighting anybody and I’m not expecting anybody to fight me. I have no issue with that. I think we are past that level now,” he said.
He challenged those predicting a vote split in Kano to wait for the election result before drawing conclusions.
“Let’s wait for the election and see whether votes are split in Kano or not,” he said.
Kwankwaso also acknowledged a history of working with Atiku, recalling that he served as the former vice president’s northern coordinator during the 2019 presidential election.
“There was an election in 2019 in Port Harcourt. He won the election. I was his coordinator for the north. We worked for him,” he said.
He traced his broader relationship with Atiku to the 2015 APC presidential primary in Lagos, where he placed second behind Muhammadu Buhari, with Atiku third.
By Okey Maduforo, Awka
The Anambra State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has expelled 30 members of the party for instituting legal actions against the party.
The affected members include some aspirants for the National Assembly, and their expulsion may disqualify them from participating in the party’s primary elections.
Disclosing this shortly after the meeting of the State Executive Committee (SEC) of the party, the State Publicity Secretary, Dr. Sir Valentine Iyiegbu, told reporters that the decision was in line with Section 21, Subsection 5 of the party’s constitution.
“The party discussed those who took the party to court, and many of them are contesting for the House of Representatives tickets of the party,” he said.
“The matter comes up tomorrow, and the SEC stated that what the party constitution stipulates would be followed, which is outright expulsion from the party under Article 21, Subsection 5.”
“The SEC actually ratified their expulsion because they did not exhaust all the internal avenues provided by the party to resolve their grievances,” he added.
Iyiegbu noted that the only reprieve available to the expelled members would be for them to withdraw their court cases.
“It is only when the matters are withdrawn from the court that the party can consider listening to them,” he said.
Speaking on the party’s primary elections, he explained:
“In the case of those contesting for the tickets of the Federal House of Representatives, all the eleven positions have aspirants, while for the Senate, the three positions are also being contested. The screening committees were here to perform their duties,” he noted.
The party also ratified the appointment of a five-man Primary Elections Committee headed by Sir Izuchukwu Okeke, the State Organising Secretary of the party.
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