Twenty-one members of the Kano State House of Assembly have officially defected from the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), deepening the political realignment rocking the state.
The lawmakers announced their defection on Monday, coming just days after Governor Abba Yusuf formally resigned from the NNPP following his high-profile meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the State House, Abuja.
In a letter addressed to the chairman of Diso-Chiranchi Ward in Gwale Local Government Area, Yusuf attributed his decision to “deepening internal crises” and “prolonged leadership disputes” within the NNPP.
The governor’s exit was not in isolation. He resigned alongside the 21 state lawmakers, eight members of the House of Representatives, and all 44 local government chairmen in Kano State.
Among the defectors are the Speaker of the House, Jibril Ismail Falgore (Rogo), and the Deputy Speaker, Muhammad Bello Butu Butu (Tofa/Rimin Gado). Also joining the APC are Lawan Hussain (Dala), Garba Shehu Fammar (Kibiya), and Muddasir Ibrahim Zawachiki (Kumbotso).
Others include 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).
Also on the list are Tukur Mohammed (Fagge), Murtala Muhammad Kadage (Garko), Abdulmajid Isah Umar (Gwale), Engr. Ahmad Ibrahim (Karaye), Alhassan Zakari (Kura/Garun Malam), and Suleiman Mukhtar Ishaq (Madobi).
Abdulhamid Abdul (Minjibir), Muhammad Ibrahim (Rano), Kabiru Sule Dahiru (Tarauni), and Ali Abdullahi Manager (Wudil) complete the wave of defections.
Reacting to the mass exit, the national leader of the NNPP, Rabiu Kwankwaso, declared January 23 as “World Betrayal Day”.
Kwankwaso had been instrumental in Yusuf’s emergence as Kano governor in 2023 through the Kwankwasiyya movement, making the defections one of the most significant political ruptures in the state’s recent history.
